Old Grudges
by Ikcatcher
Summary: When Serena and Meowth are separated from their respective groups,they have to put aside old grudges and work together as a familiar foe returns that puts their trust to the limit. An Amourshipping story.
1. Chapter 1

It was an average morning for Ash,Serena,Clemont and Bonnie,they would wake up,dismantle their tents,have breakfast,do some light exercise and they would bring out the map and plan their next route.

"The path ahead leads to a mountain." Clemont said as he pointed at the the large brown area that was on the map.

"Then it would take us at least a day to go through it." Ash said.

"But here's the kicker." the blonde inventor said." The mountain has two paths through it.""There's a path that goes around the mountain that's risky but it's the shortest way through,or we could go through the cave,it'll be safer but it'll take us much longer to trek through."

"How about we split up?" Serena suggested.""That way if one of us reach the other side of the mountain,we could set up camp and wait for the other group to get across."

"That's a good idea Serena." Clemont said.""Me and Bonnie would be in one group while you and Ash would be in the other."

"Me and Serena could take the mountain path while you and Bonnie can go through the cave." Ash suggested.""It'll be much safer for Bonnie."

"I appreciate your concerns Ash but no one is forcing you to take the more dangerous path." Clemont said with a worried voice.

"We'll be fine,right Serena?" Ash said.

"Right." she said and nodded in agreement.

"Then that settles it then." Clemont said.""Once we reach the mountain we'll go our separate ways and meet up at the other side of the mountain.

"Got it!"everyone said in unison as they finished up packing the last of their belongings before heading out on their journey again.

The walk to the mountain was a rather strange had been stopped by many other travelers,warning them that they should turn back and find another said there have been reports of strange occurrences at the mountain,fog suddenly appearing,weird noises from the forest below,and travelers getting into freak accidents that injured them.

"The fog can be explained." Clemont said."Fog is created when warm moist air passes over a cool surface,when make contact the water vapor condenses,thus creating fog."

"That doesn't explain the creepy noises in the forest!" Bonnie said with her face as pale as a Snover.

"Probably just a Ghost-type Pokemon playing pranks." the blonde inventor said."I'm sure the freak accidents are all just coincidences."

"Anyway we should remain vigilant while we are here." Ash said.

"It's creepy stories like these that keeps me awake at night!" Serena said,her face pale,her hands shaking uncontrollably.

"Don't worry Serena,I'll make sure nothing bad happens to you." the raven haired trainer the honey blonde girl.

"Thanks Ash." she said,hiding away the blush she suddenly had.

"This is where we split up." Clemont said to the group as they were standing at an intersection,one leads uphill towards the cliff side while the other leads to a cave.

"We'll see you at other side." Ash said,waving at the blonde siblings.

"Stay safe everyone!" Bonnie said as the group split into two and went their separate ways.

It was around late afternoon when Ash and Serena finally arrived at the mountainside path,it was a rather dangerous path as walkway was only small for them to walk on,they were no safety fences at the edge,so there's nothing saving them if they fall into the forest below.

"I...I'm not so sure about this Ash..." Serena said nervously as she looked on at the path ahead.

"It'll be fine Serena,just don't look down and you won't be nervous." Ash said.

"Alright..." she said nervously,trying to calm herself down.

The two then began walking step by step across the path,with Ash leading and Serena that his Ash will protect her no matter what placed her nervous heart at ease.

"Jeez,how big is this mountain!"Jessie complained as she was climbing up the mountain.

"If only we had our Team Rocket balloon right now." James said in exhaustion.

"Well if you hadn't burn it to the ground,we would still have it!" Jessie yelled.

"It's not my fault that YOU were the one that didn't packed a burner so the only way too cook out canned food was with the Team Rocket balloon!" he yelled back in defense.

"How did these two bozos even passed the Academy with their stupidity?" Meowth said to himself as the two continued to argue while climbing up the mountain.

"Everything okay back there Serena?" Ash said as he stopped to see if the honey blonde trainer was managing.

"I'm alright Ash." she replied.

There was something about Ash that always made her feel... felt like whenever Ash is around,she could overcome any would always remember the phrase Ash said to him when they met:"Don't give up till its-".

"Serena!" Ash yelled.

Serena snapped back into reality just in time to realized that she had stepped on a broken rock,thus breaking when she stepped on it.

Ash ran as fast as he could to grab Serena's arm,but it was too he could do was hear her scream as she fell into the forest below.

"SERENA!" he yelled.

"Did you hear that?" James asked.

"I heard it it too." Jessie replied. "It sounded like a scream or some sort."

"Probably just one those Ghost Pokemons playing tricks on us." Meowth said.

"Wait what's that?" James said as he pointed at something that was falling towards look like someone,a girl from the looks of it,has a pink a minute,all those fit a description of certain someone.

"It's one of the Twerpettes!" they all yelled as she fell straight into Meowth,causing him to lose his balance,causing him to fall off the mountain.

"Meowth!" James screamed as he tried to reach out to grab his paws but he was too could only hear the screams of the both of them for a few seconds as they fell into the forest below,and then a long dead silence.


	2. Chapter 2

It was dark, or so Serena thought when she woke entire body numb, but she still managed to force her screaming muscles to get up, her arms were bleeding, but she can't do anything about it at the moment.

Serena took a good look at her surroundings, the sun was still shining, most likely late afternoon, and not a single sign of life to be found.  
"I got to find a way out of this forest and get back to Ash." she thought.

"Ughhh..." a voice came from behind her.

Serena jumped out of her wits and turned to the source of the sound,her vision was still a bit blurry but she managed to make out a figure,a white,small creature,has whiskers and has something yellow on its head, she immediately figured out who it was.

"Meowth!" Serena screamed.

"Heh? Whaaaaa Twerpette!" Meowth said, immediately jumping back in shock at the sight of Serena.

"What are you doing here?!" she said.

"What am I doing here? I'm here because you fell on me while I was climbing!" Meowth yelled back.

Serena paused for a second, trying to remember when that occurred, it was then she remembered something hitting her back when she was fell off,she somehow managed to cross paths with Team Rocket and landed on Meowth, causing him as well to fall off the mountain.

It was then they heard a faint scream somewhere deep in the forest, after that a long silence.

"What was that?" Serena asked.

"I don't know but I ain't sticking around to find out! Let's go." Meowth said.

"What?! Follow you?" Serena said. "Why should I follow you again,you're just going to pretend to cooperate and then you'll jump at us when our guards are down!"

The Twerptte does have a point." Meowth last time he got separated from Team Rocket he did used them as an excuse to get close to Pikachu.

It was then another scream was heard,now even closer than before, it made both of them feel uneasy.

"Look, I don't have time to stick around to find out what that noise is pal,so you can either follow me or stay here and get eaten by whatever is making that noise!" Meowth said with a serious tone.

She couldn't argue with him there,she didn't want to stick around to find out what making that noise and the thought of it just makes her hair stand up.

"Alright, fine." she finally said.

"Then let's go." Meowth said as they ran in the opposite direction deeper into the forest.

Clemont was never a person who was afraid of caves,anything odd could always be explained with the power of science, but something about this particular cave made him uneasy.

"How much longer till we reach the exit big brother?" Bonnie asked,exhausted at the constant walking they had to do.

"I'm don't exactly know for sure, but judging by the size of this mountain,and how long we've been walking,I'd said around 30 more minutes.

"Oh man..." Bonnie said in disappointment.

It was then that Dedenne,who was sleeping in Bonnie's satchel this whole out and looked around curiously.

"What's wrong Dedenne?" Bonnie asked as the Electric Hamster jumped out of the was then that small electric currents went towards Dedenne's was Pikachu communicating with them.

"Those electric currents." Clemont said. "So that must mean-"

"Ash is trying to communicate with us!" Bonnie finished.

"That can only mean one thing." Clemont said. "Ash and Serena are in trouble!"

"Dedenne,where is the current coming from?" Bonnie asked.

"Denene!" Dedenne said, pointing towards the wall in front of them.

"They must be at the at cliffside on the other side of this wall." Clemont said.

"What do we do?" Bonnie said. "There's no way to break this wall down!"

"Heheheh,the future is now thanks to science! Clemontic Gear on!" the blonde inventor said. "I thought we encounter a situation preciously like this one." he said with two drills strapped to his arms."I called it the Easy Wall Driller That Drills With A Breeze Drill!"

"Once again,your names never cease to amuse me."Bonnie said.

"This invention allows you to drill a hole into a wall with extreme quickness by increasing the speed of the drill as it keeps going,creating the ultimate drilling machine! Power on!"

"The drills started to spin as Clemont pushes them onto the wall starts breaking down just big enough for them to walk through.

"At this rate,we'll be outside the mountain in a few- huh?" Clemont said as the drills started going haywire,increasing its speed to a ludicrous amount.

"Uh-oh, AHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Clemont said as the he speeded off deeper into the newly drilled then heard an explosion.

"That's my big brother..." Bonnie said while shrugging as she ran into newly drilled hole to find her brother.


	3. Chapter 3

"I think I see a cave just ahead!" Serena said.

"We'll hide there and wait for this whole thing to blow over!" Meowth said,running as fast as he hearing the faint scream behind them.

They both ran into the cave,hoping they lose whatever that was following them this whole both hid behind some rocks,remaining what felt like an eternity,Serena peeked out to see if their pursuer was still on to them.

"Looks like the coast is clear." Serena said,breathing a sigh of relief.

"I think it's best we stay here for awhile." Meowth said as he stepped out from his hiding place.

"You sure about that? This place looks like a Pokemon nest from the looks of it." Serena said,noticing the scratch marks and the heaps of hay that were scattered across the cave floor.

"Judging by the dust,it looks like this place hasn't been inhabited for quite a long time now." Meowth said.

All Serena could do was nod at Meowth,she was too exhausted from the running that she was still out of breath.

"I'm going to go look for some use hiding with an empty stomach!" Meowth said as he headed off into the forest,leaving Serena alone in the cave."Sure reminds me of Ash..." Serena muttered.

Ash usually was never a person to panic during extreme situations,even in gym battles he would keep a cool head in order to achieve victory.

But now,he was didn't know what to do,he's mind was nothing but a haze and he couldn't think and Bonnie had arrived rather quickly when he asked Pikachu to send a signal to Dedenne.

"I should have been more observant! She wouldn't have fell if I had noticed earlier!" Ash said,punching a fist into the mountain wall.

"Ash,it wasn't your fault!"the blonde inventor said. "This wasn't something that was foreseen,none of us would have expected it!

"Remember what you always say "Never give up till it's over!"" Bonnie said.

Those words jolted Ash back to his was right,what would Serena think of him if he had just gave up?

"You're right,Bonnie." Ash said as he patted her head. "I can't just give up now!"

"Then that settles it then!" Clemont said. "Our best chance is to use Flecthinder to search from the air and- huh?"

The group heard something climbing up,muffled voices could be heard,all sounding really familiar.

"Gasp, gasp, finally we reach a break spot! Maybe now we can finally look for- Gah!"

"It's Team Rocket!" the group all said.

"Gah,it's the twerps!" Jessie said as she was preparing to grab her Pokeball containing Pumpkaboo when James soon climbed up.

"What's with all this commotion Jess- eeek! The twerps!" James said.

"What are you doing here!" Ash wanting to deal with them right now.

"Well we were just climbing up this mountain,minding our own business when suddenly your twerpette friend came out of nowhere and fell right onto Meowth! Causing him to fall as well." Jessie said.

The group all froze when they heard had just so happened to fall right onto Team Rocket and causing Meowth to fall off the mountain with her?

"Do...do you know where they are?" Ash asked hesitantly.

"Not a clue." Jessie said while shrugging.

"That's why we're climbed up here to look for Meowth with our binoculars." James said,holding his Team Rocket binoculars in his hand.

"Why don't we help you?" Ash said.

"WHAT!?" everyone yelled at Ash's suggestion.

"Ash,what are you doing!?" Clemont said. "Why do you want to help them?!"

"It's the only way to find Serena." the raven haired trainer said. "We would all benefit from this if we had a temporary truce."

"The twerp does have a point." James whispered to Jessie.

Jessie sighed at even James agreeing to the twerps idea until she finally agreed.

"Fine,but after finding Meowth we're still going to capture Pikachu,you got that?" Jessie said.

"Fine." Ash said as he reached out his hand to shake Jessie's hand,signaling their temporary was then that Pikachu decided to shock both Ash and Jessie when they shook hands.

"What was that for!?" Ash and Jessie said as they looked at Pikachu who had half guilt and half menacing look on his face.

"This is going to be a difficult temporary truce..." James said.


	4. Chapter 4

It was then that Serena realized how much time had passed when she looked out the cave entrance. It was completely dark outside, 8:30 in the evening to be precise when Serena checked her guidebook.

She had wasted no time after Meowth had left, she first bandaged her injured arms using the mini first aid kit she always carried in case of emergencies. She had learned a thing or two about first aid from her mother every time she got injured when practicing Ryhorn racing. Funny how her Ryhorn racing is in a way helping her now. She then released Braixen and Pancham to help her find some wood to make a fire. Pancham, being the quick climber was able to bring back a bunch of small broken twigs from trees. Serena then had Braixen use Flamethrower on the twig pile to make a fire. After that she decided to just let her Pokemon stay out of their Pokeballs and sat next to the fire.

"Where has Meowth been anyway?" Serena said to herself as she looked outside to see if the Feline Pokemon was there. Serena then realized something, what if Meowth already made his way back to Team Rocket and left me here?! That was a possibility, it wasn't the first time Meowth had used the group to his advantage.

Suddenly, Serena heard some rustling noises from outside the cave.

"Who's there?" she said as her Pokemon quickly stood guard in front of Serena, wanting to protect their trainer.

"It's me Twerpette!" the voice from outside said.

It was Meowth, all bruised up and carrying what looked like a sack behind his back. He started limping towards the honey blonde trainer.

"What happened to you?!" Serena said as she quickly went towards Meowth.

"There were... complications when I was searching us some food. It was that voice, it threw me off a cliff!" Meowth said, dropping the sack he was carrying as he laid his back onto the stone wall.

"It's still out there!?" Serena said. Slowly turning pale at thought of that ghost again.

"Yeah, but I don't think it followed me here, so we should be fine." Meowth said.

Serena let out sigh of relief. She was too exhausted to continue running.

"It's probably a Psychic type Pokemon. It used Psychic to throw me off the... Urgh..."

"Careful! You need to hurt!" Serena said as she grabbed hold of Meowth.

"In...the...sack...Oran Berry!" Meowth said, slowly getting weaker and weaker.

Serena quickly went and opened the sack which revealed to be a lot of berries. From Pecha berries to Persim berries. And among the pile were Oran berries which Serena took a few.

Her mother had taught her how to treat an injured Pokemon, with their Flecthling being the "wounded". You take the Oran berries, squeeze the juice onto a bandage and then wrap around the wound.

"This should heal your wounds." she said to Meowth as she slowly wrap the bandage around Meowth's body.

It didn't take long for the Oran Berry to take affect as Meowth immediately felt better from his wounds.

"Wow, that sure helped a lot! Where did you learned that from?" Meowth said.

"I've learn it from my mother." Serena said with a half flattered half shy face.

"The twerp should be glad he has someone like you to take of- gah!" Meowth said,quickly covering his mouth from saying anything further.

"What was that Meowth?!" she said.

"Ahhh you heard nothing! It was all just your imagination!"

Serena gave Meowth a rather intimidating look. If there's one thing Meowth has learned from Jessie is that women can get pretty scary and that you don't mess with them.

"Alright alright I'll spill the beans. You didn't think I noticed did ya?"

"Notice what?" Serena replied, completely interesting in what Meowth has to say.

"That you like your twerp friend! It's been obvious since day one!" Meowth said.

"Wait, how did you know?!" she replied, now as curious as ever.

"All your concerns with your twerp friend didn't go unnoticed you know? I'm surprised he hasn't noticed it yet."

Serena felt extremely embarrassed, even Meowth knows her little secret now? She felt like everyone in the world except Ash would noticed the hints.

"How much do you know?" Serena said coldly.

"All I know is that you like the twerp, probably because he helped you out or something." Meowth said.

"Yeah, that's pretty- wait, how do you know so much about romance?!"

"It's a really long story."

"Well, it's not like I have anything else to do, so go ahead then." Serena said, sitting down next to Meowth to listen to his story. Braixen and Pancham also decided to listen to the story.

"It all started when I was nothing more than a stray Pokemon at this camp in Kanto. I had a hard life, with no food I was always starving. I once tipped over a basket full of baseballs thinking it was food! The baseball coach wasn't really happy, so he had me hung up a tree!"

"How horrible!" Serena exclaimed.

"Well, I never said I lived a good life. Anyway, from that tree I saw a movie that was playing at the camp. I can't remember what it was called but it was about this Meowth living in this place called "Hollywood" being fed so well by its master. I thought "Wow, Hollywood is a paradise! I must go there." Boy was I wrong."

"What happened?" Serena asked.

"When I finally got to Hollywood, I was shocked. It was nothing like what the movie showed! I was still being treated like a mere stray Pokemon just like before. I still remember the times where I would steal food from stores there, I got caught one time and had lost my food. It was at that time I was greeted by a gang of Meowths, led by a Persian, they brought me into their gang. I was happy because I was able to satiate my hunger by joining the gang, I still felt something was missing. I felt... lonely inside, I wanted some love in my life after going though such negligence. It was then that I met her."

"Her?" Serena said

"A female Meowth called Meowzie, I saw her in a window of a posh department store and it was love at first sight. I remember running into across the road to her and it caused a big traffic pile up. But when I walked towards her, I was rebuked. Her owner, a posh looking lady recalled her into her "diamond-encrusted Pokeball." She then said to me that a mere "street Meowth" like me would never win over a luxurious Pokemon like Meowzie. So I did what I thought was the only way to impress her, I vowed to become like a human in order to impress her!"

Serena was silent, completely focused and wanted to know more about the story.

"So I searched, I searched for a place where I could practice to speak like a human. I then found a mansion that was home to an academy that taught students upper-class etiquette. So I spied on one of their classes, I practiced walking on two legs, practiced speaking,even practiced singing. I'll always remember the tongue twister they taught "She sells seashells by the seashore." But life got harder for me trying to be a human, I now have to run on two legs instead of four when I steal food. Making it extremely difficult for me."

"So how long did it take for you to learn walking and talking properly?" Serena asked.

"A few months maybe, I can't really remember exactly how long." Meowth said.

"After finally mastering it, I went back to Meowzie, thinking this time she would be impressed of me and would like me. It was then my world fell apart. She called me a freak, saying in worst than a stray Meowth and she wouldn't love a freak."

Serena gasped at that. "What a horrible thing to do!" she thought to herself.

"Angered over the rejection, I vowed to her to be the richest "freak" she'll ever see, wanting to make her eat her words about me. I tried doing many things while traveling, but it ended with me remember the first word I ever learned, "Rocket". So that's how I ended up in Team Rocket and the rest was history."

Serena could not let a single word out her mouth about Meowths story, she was overcame with sympathy for Meowth, doing everything to impress the girl he loved, but only to be rejected.

"Thanks for listening to my story." Meowth said. "I've never really told anyone else besides Team Rocket about my past. Here, take this."

Meowth threw a circular object to Serena and she caught it.

"It's a bottle cap." Serena said, looking at the top of the cap that had the words "Slateport City Root Bear" written on it.

"I nicked it off from James as revenge for stepping on my tail one time, but you can keep it."

Serena nodded as she placed the bottle cap into her pocket.

Meowth then yawned, "Well, storytelling sure made me tired, I'll be off to hit the hay." Meowth said as he laid down facing the wall. "Goodnight."

"Goodnight." Serena said blankly, still thinking about the story Meowth had just told her. She also had fears of Ash rejecting her, but she didn't wanted to believe that, she has a feeling that Ash maybe, just maybe, he felt the same way as she does now. Serena slowly lay down and started closing her eyes as her Pokemon cuddled next to her to get ready for tomorrow.

(Wow, this has been the longest I've have ever written ever. And in case you're wondering, yes Meowth's backstory was explained in the original series. With that being said I hope you enjoyed reading this chapter, and I'll see you in the next chapter!)


	5. Chapter 5

All was quiet at the camp, Ash was still wide awake, unable to sleep no matter how hard he tried. His mind kept thinking of Serena, he hoped Serena was okay.

Ash decided to get up from his tent to get some fresh air. That would possibly take his mind off Serena. The night was quiet, he could only hear the sounds of Hoothoots in the distance. Opposite of Ash was Team Rocket's tent, although he felt uncomfortable camping in the same place as them, fearing that they would steal Pikachu in the middle of the night. It was the only choice the group had if they wanted to find Serena.

"Wherever you are Serena, I hope you're safe." Ash whispered quietly as he looked up at the night sky, seeing millions of stars that lit up the night sky like a Christmas tree.

It was then when Ash saw a shooting star flash across the sky, he remembered wishing upon it when they were traveling with Diancie to find Xerneas. Ash quickly clenched his hands and closed his eyes as tight as he could.

"I wish Serena will be alright and that we will find her soon." Ash said to himself.

Unaware to Ash was that someone was watching him to whole time from her tent. Bonnie always knew that Serena had feelings for Ash, but she didn't know that Ash actually had feelings for her as well.

"It's a match made in heaven." Bonnie thought as she let out a yawn and decided to go back to sleep.

Darkness filled the empty void, it was like being in a endless dark hallway, with no end in sight. Serena was walking aimlessly, only the echoes of her footstep accompanied her.

"Where am I?" Serena said.

"Hello? Meowth are you there?" She shouted, and the silence being her reply.

Suddenly she saw something in the distance, a person by the looks of it.

"Excuse me, could you tell me where am-" Serena suddenly realized who the person was, it was Ash.

"Ash!" she shouted in excitement as she quickly ran towards him and hugged him.

"What are you doing here." Ash said with a cold tone in his voice.

"I don't know! I suddenly ended up here. I'm just glad to see you!" Serena said, still holding on to Ash.

"Get off me!" Ash yelled as he pushed Serena off him.

"Wha... what's wrong with you Ash?!" she said.

"What's wrong with me?! It's because of you! Why must you always look for me when you're in trouble?" Ash said, angrier than ever.

"Be...because I love you!" Serena said, tears starting to fall from her eyes.

"Love? Hah! Don't make me laugh. Truth is, I don't even consider you a friend. You're nothing but a weak and pathetic fool!" Ash said as he slowly walked into the dark void.

"Ash... wait... please!" Serena yelled, trying to reach out towards Ash but ended up breaking down into tears at what he just said to her.

Little did she know that this was all just an illusion. She was still inside the cave with Meowth, but they weren't the only ones there. A Gengar was beside Serena, using Dream Eater on her to cause the nightmares. And behind was a tall figure overlooking the entire thing.

"Ma ma malamar!"

(Apologies for the abrupt cliffhanger and the shortness of this chapter, my mind was at a blank on what more to put into this chapter, but fear not! I already have the next few chapters planned out. With that said, Ikcatcher signing out)


	6. Chapter 6

Rain splattered across the straight dirt path as rain clouds covered the night sky. Wind blew heavily as tree began swaying back and fourth, like a Ludicolo dancing in the rain. The calm of the stormy night was interrupted by the sound of a truck engine blazing through the dirt path. In the back were two people being taken against their will to an unknown location.

Serena slowly began regaining consciousness, she suddenly felt an extreme headache, like a Machamp had just use Mega Punch on her head. She tried moving her hands but failed to do so. She then realized she was tied up with rope.

Serena suddenly felt a rush of fear run through her body.

"How did I get here?!" she thought to herself, nervously shaking the whole time.

Suddenly, she heard a groaning noise coming from next to her. Serena quickly pushed herself away from the noise and leaned herself against a wall.

Upon closer inspection, it turned out to be Meowth, and her two Pokemon, Braixen and Pancham all locked in steel cages.

"Meowth!" Serena whispered.

"Gah... Not to loud, my head- gah! How did I end up in a cage?!" Meowth exclaimed.

"I don't know, I woke up here as well." Serena said.

"Well, we got to get out here! I'm starting to have a bad feeling about this gig. Judging by the size of this place and the constant bumping we're experiencing, we appear to be in a truck." Meowth said.

"A truck? How did we end up in a truck?" Serena wondered.

"Your guess is as good as mine."

Suddenly, the truck came to a stop, the sounds of the truck door opening and closing.

The container door then opened, two man wearing hoodies and masks were standing at the opening. There was rain pouring down behind the two.

"Out. Now." One of the masked men said rather soullessly, as if he was possessed.

Serena complied and stood up and exited the truck, leaving Meowth and her Pokemon behind.

"Follow me and do not resist." another masked man said.

She simply nodded and followed him. She took note of the environment, it looked like a camp of some sort. She saw many kinds of Pokemon, all with dead looking eyes doing labour work.

Serena took a peak behind, she saw Meowth being transported out from the truck, with a tall figure with tentacles on its back. It looked like-

"Eyes forward!" the man behind her said.

Serena quickly turned her head around to avoid angering the person any further.

She was led to a what looked like a mining shaft turned into a makeshift prison. The masked man in front opened the door to her cell while the one behind her pushed her into the cell and locked the door.

"What is the meaning of this?!" she yelled. "I demand to know why have I been captured!"

The two men did not replied and walked away from her cell.

"Please, Ash..."

Ash kept tossing and turning in his sleep. He didn't know why, but he felt like something bad had happened to Serena. It felt like it was trying to tell him a message.

Ash got up from his sleeping bag, he just knows it, it can't be ignored. Serena is probably in trouble.

He quickly changed from his sleepwear and woke Pikachu up, telling him about his gut feeling.

"Ash..? Where are you going?" Clemont said as he woke up from the sounds that Ash was making.

"I know it, I just know it! Serena is out there and she's in trouble!" Ash said, grabbing his bag and opening the tent.

"But it's raining outside and it's late in the night!" Clemont replied.

"I can't ignore it, she's out there with something dangerous. I can feel it." the raven haired trainer said as he exited from the tent.

"Ash! Wait!" Clemont exclaimed as the tent was closed back and he heard Ash's footsteps running into the forest.

Clemont couldn't sit idly by as his friend could run into potential danger. So he got up and got his blue jumpsuit in order to change.

"You're one reckless and brave trainer Ash."


	7. Chapter 7

Time, it felt like something non existent at the moment. Serena had been in the cell for quite awhile now. her guidebook, it was 9:00 am the next day already. It had only been a few hours but it felt like she had been locked here for years. She couldn't even get some sleep with the noise from outside. Footsteps, something being moved, and construction noises.

With all the time in the world, all Serena could do was ponder. That dream she had about Ash, even though it was just a dream, she can't help but wonder wether it could happen. That's the worst case scenario for her relationship with Ash, but deep down she knows that would never happen.

"Hello? Is there anyone over there?"

Serena jumped at the sudden voice and lost her footing and falling onto the floor, creating a loud thud.

"You alright there? Sorry, I'm not really good with greeting someone when they don't know where I am." the voice said, female from the sound of it.

Serena felt like she has heard that voice somewhere before, but she couldn't put her finger on it.

"Who are you?" Serena said as she walked closer to the wall where the voice came from.

"Wait, I know your voice... Is your name Serena?"

Serena froze in place when the voice mentioned her name.

"Ho... How do you know my name?!" Serena nervously asked.

"Cause we have met before, you, Ash, Clemont and Bonnie helped me with the Malamar incidents."

Suddenly it all started caning together. Serena finally know who's voice was that.

"Officer Jenny?!" Serena said.

"Well, I'm now a Captain now. So I should be called Captain Jenny."

"Captain?" Serena asked.

"It's a really long story." Jenny said.

"Well, it's not like I have anything to do right now, so go ahead then."

"Alright then. After our last meeting with Malamar things went chaotic with my superiors. Pokemon were planning to destroy the world, and they were going to strike again. I was called back to HQ to meet with the brass. They said with the threat of world annihilation imminent, they needed to take action immediately. And thus, the Kalos Special Anti-Terror Task Force was created, or KSATTF for short. It's mission: To stop anything that would put Kalos in danger. I was chosen to lead this task force, and with that I was also given a promotion to Captain. And that's how I became Captain."

"Okay, but that doesn't explain why you're here." Serena said.

"Intelligence informed me about suspicious trucks driving towards the camp, I followed them and it lead me to this camp and scouted the area. It turns out this is a camp run by none other than Malamar himself."

Serena's blood went cold with the mention of Malamar, but it's made even worse that the evil Pokemon is in this camp right now.

"It seems he has made himself a pretty large extremist group, wether it was through mind control or propaganda." Jenny said.

"So how did you get locked in here?" Serena asked.

"I got captured by his minions and now I'm here."

It took Serena awhile to process all the information that was just dumped on her. Malamar? Leader of an entire group of people? Extremist group? This made her both impressed and scared at the same time.

"So what do we do now?" Serena said.

"I don't know... But we got to get out of here, find somewhere safe and call for back-"

Jenny was interrupted by the sounds of a gate opening and footsteps. Two men, dressed in black overalls and wearing balaclavas entered the cells and walked towards Serena's cell

"You, our leader wants to see you." one of the men said.

"Me? What for?" Serena asked.

"I didn't give you permission to ask! Come with us or we drag you there!"

Serena was hesitant but she had no other choice but to comply with the man's orders and follow them to see their "leader".

Jenny sat there as the sounds of the their footsteps disappeared and the sounds of water dripping in the cave cells.

"I got to get help." Jenny said as she removed her boots to reveal a small electronic device that turned out to be a radio.

"Any luck Clemont?" Ash asked as he looked across the ridge with a pair of binoculars borrowed from Team Rocket.

"Thermal imaging shows nothing." Clemont said who was using a mini computer and a remote radar drone that he had invented to find Serena and Meowth.

"Come on, where are you Serena?" Ash said to himself. As the hour go by, his confidence of finding them started to deteriorate. What if he never found her? What would she think of that? No, he couldn't give up. That is not the Ash Ketchum she knows.

"I got something! Two heat signatures detected!" Clemont exclaimed.

"Where is it?!" Ash said.

"Coming right at us to our right!"

Ash and Clemont turned to their right as they suddenly heard bushes rustling and the two figures walked out of the bush.

"Braixen?! Pancham?!"


	8. Chapter 8

"Braixen?! Pancham?!" Ash and Clemont both exclaimed in horror. It was Serena's Pokemon, who both looked like they just went through Hell and back to get here. They were covered in dirt, they both looked extremely exhausted and they were covered in bruises and cuts.

"What happened to you two?!" Ash exclaimed

"Brai... Brai...xen." Braixen panted before collapsing onto the ground.

"BRAIXEN!" Clemont and Ash screamed as they hurried over to her to see if she was alright.

"Pan Pan Pancham!" Pancham yelled, helplessly shaking Braixen to wake up.

"What's wrong with her?" Ash asked Clemont who had went over to checked on Braixen.

"Braixen is completely exhausted, she has faint from fatigue." Clemont said.

"We got to head back to camp! Inform the others about this!" Ash said.

Team Rocket and Bonnie were searching from the sky with the use of Team Rocket's balloon, they probably aren't far from their current location.

"Flecthinder, come on out!" Ash yelled as he threw the Pokeball containing Flecthinder into sky as the Pokeball opened and the Phoenix Pokemon appeared.

"Flecthinder!" Flecthinder said, determined to help his trainer any way he could.

"Flecthinder! Find Team Rocket! Tell them to head back to the camp!"

"Fletch!" Flecthinder nodded as it flew up into the sky to look for Team Rocket's iconic balloon.

"Come on! Let's get Braixen and Pancham back to camp!" Ash said as he slowly lifted Braixen up and carried the Fox Pokemon on her back.

Pancham climbed onto Clemont's shoulder as they hustled as quickly as they could back to the camp site.

"Stay with me Braixen, everything is going to be alright." Ash whispered to Braixen who although was exhausted could still hear what Ash said.

Perhaps all hope hasn't been lost yet. Ash thought.

It wasn't easy for Team Rocket to safely place Bonnie into the balloon, Meowth was one thing because he wasn't that big but having a third human passenger? That's a different story.

"Would you stop pushing so much Twerpette, you're going to make us fall out!" Jessie yelled, trying to keep Bonnie still.

"Maybe if you two weren't so big I could be comfortable." Bonnie yelled back.

"If you two could stop shaking the balloon and focus at what's at hand!" James joined in.

The duo stopped struggling when they noticed something flying towards them at high speed.

"Uhhhh, James? What's that in front of us?!" Jessie said.

"I don't know, but it's going to crash into us! Brace for in-"

"Wait!" Bonnie interrupted. "I think I know what it is!" She noticed the red body it had and the orange fur at the tip of its wings.

"Flecthinder!" Bonnie yelled

"Flecth! Flecthinder!" The Phoenix Pokemon cried.

"What's going on?" James asked.

"Flecth Flecth!" it said while pointing in the opposite direction, the direction of the camp.

"Ash and Clemont found something and wants us to head back to the campsite?" Bonnie said.

Flecthinder nodded and flew past them, waving to them to follow him.

"James, turn this thing around." Jessie said.

"This is a hot air balloon, I can't "turn" this thing around!" James said.

Flecthinder then had an idea, it flew in front of the balloon and flapped its wings in quick succession to create enough wind to push the balloon in the opposite direction.

"Good thinking Flecthinder!" Bonnie said, giving him the thumbs up which made Flecthinder blush.

"Alright let's head back, let's see what they found." James said.

Serena felt an uncomfortable sensation when she was walking through the camp. All the people were staring at her, but I didn't felt like they had anger in their eyes, it looked like they are scared. Some of them didn't have a choice joining this organization. A pity she thought.

The two men had taken Serena to the far end of the camp, where a giant lone tent was set up up above a high ground. A leader, watching over the entire thing.

Deep down Serena already knew who the leader was, but for some reason she had a sense of doubt and wanted to see if she was right.

"Our boss is in there, don't keep him waiting." the masked man said, opening the tent covers to let her in while keeping an eye on her making sure she doesn't try anything funny.

Serena carefully stepped into the tent as the man closed the covers behind her. Leaving Serena in a dim lit tent. At the far end was a huge rotating chair with its back facing towards her. Next to it was a cage with something inside that looked familiar. Upon closer inspection she knew who it was.

"Meowth!" she screamed as she ran towards the cage to check on him but was interrupted when she ran into a force field that was covering the area in front of her. The chair then turned to reveal the figure sitting on it.

"You..." Serena said almost in anger at seeing it again. The tall squid-like Pokemon that had tentacles grown on its back.

Malamar.

"Ma aa la mar!" it said, almost in laughter.

"We meet again." Meowth suddenly spoke out. It was controlling Meowth and using him as a translator.

"I never thought I see you again." Serena said coldly, not wanting to show any emotions to someone as evil as Malamar.

"Ma ma ma la mar!"

"I told you this wasn't the end of me."

"Ma la mar mar!"

"This time, I've brought an army with me!"

"You're not getting away with this! Ash and the others would stop you no matter what!" Serena yelled.

Malamar laughed upon hearing that.

"Ma malamar, ma ma malamar, mala mala malamar!"

"Which is why I called you here, you and your hooligan friends have been nothing but trouble for my plans."

"What are you going to do?!" Serena asked.

Malamar pushed a button on the control pad on his chair which caused a loud ringing sound to be echoed. Then, the two masked men from outside entered the tent and grabbed hold of Serena.

"He... Hey! What are you doing to me?! Let me go!" she said as tried her to struggle her hands free, but the grip strengths of these two men were immense. Leaving lying helpless on her knees.

"Ma mala mala mar ma mala mar!"

"Indoctrination is key to recruiting."

Ma malamar, ma ma mala malamar!"

"If I controlled you and used you, your brat friends would have no choice but to give into the indoctrination and join our ranks!"

Serena froze at that.

"What?! No! I will not let you control me! I WILL NOT!" she resisted and tried getting her hands free, but the two men immediately restrained her and faced her to Malamar as a yellow light started emitting from it. The same light that had mind controlled her once before.

Serena couldn't do anything, it was all over for her. The last thing she heard as her vision started blacking out was from Malamar.

"Malamar!"

"Assuming direct control!"


	9. Chapter 9

"How are they holding up?" Ash asked as he saw Clemont exiting from the tent.

"Pancham got lucky, he only has a few scratches and bruises. He's also suffering from dehydration which has been taken care of." Clemont said. Showing Ash an empty water bottle.

"Braixen?"

Clemont stared down at the floor and let out a sigh with the mention of Braixen, which wasn't a good thing and Ash braced himself for he was about to say.

"I won't sugarcoat it. Braixen is in critical condition, she has a broken arm, some burns that look like it came from a Psychic attack, multiple cuts and bruises all over the body and she's also suffering from a extreme case of fatigue."

Ash found all of that hard to swallow, he had seen injured Pokemon throughout his journey but this was something he had never seen before. Imagine all the pain Braixen was going through right now.

"Poor Braixen..." Ash whispered to himself which Clemont heard but said nothing about it.

"And what about Frogadier?" Ash finally said. "Is he still in there?"

"Yeah. He's keeping an eye on Braixen for me." Clemont replied.

"I see." Ash said. Frogadier had came out of his Pokeball on his own accord when they were back at camp. He had helped Clemont carefully place Braixen on the bed to be examined.

"Frogadier sure cares a lot about Braixen." Clemont said.

"Yeah, Professor Oak always told me that the feelings of a trainer's Pokemon reflect what their trainers are..." Ash slowly cut off from finishing his sentence and let out a huge blush that made his entire face red. Is that how he really felt for Serena?

Clemont noticed Ash's odd behavior, he knew what Ash was saying but he decided not to further question Ash about it. Not until he actually knows what Ash is thinking he could make the conclusion.

"Could I go inside and see Pancham?" Ash asked.

"Sure, but why do you want to do that?" Clemont replied.

"I need to ask him what happened, we need to know how did they get all these injuries and if they know where Serena is."

Clemont, suddenly having an idea flashed his glasses and let out a giggle.

"Worry not Ash, because the future is now thanks to science! Clemontic Gear on!" Clemont said as he revealed a small television screen with a what appears to be a hat connected to the television.

"Now upgraded and improved I introduce you to the Pokemon Translator Mark 3!"

Ash's eyes glimmer in excitement at the new and improved invention.

"Unlike the previous modal, I've improved the visual quality when viewing a Pokemon's memories and also search deeper into the Pokemon's brain which will reveal more than before." Clemont said, referring back when it was last used on what was then Ash's Goomy now evolved into a Goodra and released back into its home in the wetlands.

"Science is so amazing!" Ash exclaimed.

"Now, would you kindly get Pancham so we can examine his memories." Clemont said.

Ash nodded as he walked past Clemont to enter the tent. Inside the tent was a rather unpleasant sight.

On the bed was Braixen, covered head to toe in bandages. Her right arm was wrapped in an arm cast, the broken arm. The smell of Oran Berries entered Ash's nose, he had always heard of trainers using this method to heal injured Pokemon when they don't have Potions, this was the first time he saw it being put to use.

Next to the unconscious Braixen was Frogadier, keeping a close eye on Braixen. His worried expression and his hands holding onto Braixen's wasn't making the atmosphere in the tent any better.

Ash walked towards Braixen to check on her which was noticed by Frogadier as he nodded of his trainer's presence.

"You're worried about her?" Ash asked.

"Froga." Frogadier said quietly, almost like a whisper.

"Don't worry, we'll find Serena and whoever that did this." Ash said.

"Frogadier!" he said.

Ash noticed the fire in Frogadier's eyes, he wanted to whoever that made Braixen suffer to pay. He felt the same way as well, he wanted, no, he needed to protect Serena no matter what. It felt like it was his duty.

Ash stared blankly at Braixen for a few more seconds before heading towards the other side of the tent, where Pancham was just lying down on a sleeping bag, gazing into the space with his thoughts.

"Pancham?" Ash whispered.

Pancham's thoughts were interrupted and was token by surprise at the sudden voice. He got up on his feet with his arms at the ready.

"Woah woah, easy there Pancham, it's me." Ash said, raising two hands to try and calm him down.

Pikachu got off from Ash's shoulder and went towards and tried talking with Pancham. Whatever Pikachu said, it seemed to have calmed Pancham down.

"Pan Pancham?" Pancham said.

"I'm sorry I startled you, but I need your help."

"Pancham?"

"Clemont has this invention that would... visualize your memories, figure out what happened."

Pancham had a little doubt, but reluctantly agreed. He would do anything to find his trainer.

"Alright then, follow me outside." Ash said.

Ash exited the tent with Pancham following behind. It was then he saw three more people in the camp now. Bonnie and Team Rocket had returned while he was in the tent.

"I heard from Clemont, are Braixen and Pancham right?!" Bonnie asked.

Pancham came from behind Ash and gave Bonnie a thumbs up, which made Bonnie sigh in relief.

"And what about Braixen? I don't see her anywhere."

Ash didn't had the heart to tell her the whole truth, a little girl like Bonnie doesn't need to hear the rather gruesome details of Braixen's injuries.

"Braixen... is going to be fine. Don't worry about it." Ash lied.

"But I don't see Meowth anywhere, where has he gone?" James entered the conversation.

"Only one way to find out." Ash said. "Clemont, is your machine ready?"

"All set to go!" Clemont exclaimed.

Clemont placed the hat onto Pancham's head, flipped a few switches as everyone gathered in front of the screen.

"Are you ready Pancham?" Clemont asked as he finished the final preparations.

"Cham." Pancham said.

"Alright, power on!" he said, turning on a switch that was on a remote.

The screen then flickered to life, at first it only showed static but after awhile an image slowly began appearing on the screen. It was showing things through Pancham's eyes, he was in a cage in what looks like a cave or some sort. Braixen was lying helplessly on the ground, incredibly injured.

"YOU STILL INSIST ON RESISTING?!" a booming voice said.

In front of Braixen, was a someone wearing a cloak, with eyes shining blood red.

The appearance of this cloak person made everyone's blood turn cold. It was a menacing sight for everyone.

"YOUR MASTER IS GONE, YOU ANSWER TO ME NOW." the cloak person said, charging something from his hands and unleashing it upon Braixen, sending her flying across the room and landing directly in front of Pancham.

"I DON'T HAVE TIME FOR THIS, LOCK IT IN, PERHAPS THEN IT WOULD UNDERSTAND AND GIVE IN TO MY CONTROL."

"Understood." a voice in the background said

The cloak person left the room, the sound of his footsteps filled the room for a few seconds before it disappeared.

The man, wearing a mask ran towards Braixen to check on her condition, before running towards Pancham's cafe and opening it.

"Don't worry, I'm not one of them." the man said. "You have little time but you have to get out of here."

The man opened the cage and Pancham stepped out of the cage and ran towards Braixen, who was critically injured.

"She's badly hurt, I know a way out of here, once you're out wait somewhere safe, they'll come looking for you." he said, handing back Pancham's sunglasses as he put it back on and the video feed ended.

"Is that it?" Ash asked.

"I guess it is..." Clemont said, still rather speechless at what he just saw.

Everyone remained silent for awhile before Ash suddenly spoke.

"Wait, what did he mean by "they"? Does he know that we are looking for them?"

"Unlikely." Jessie said. "Who would know of our presence or even know that those are the Twerpette's-"

Jessie was interrupted with the sound of a helicopter, roaring above them. Everyone were startled at the sight of it as it slowly descended onto the ground. A man, dressed in a black camo outfit and wearing a beret exited from the helicopter passenger door and walked towards them.

"Are you Ash? Ash Ketchum?" the man asked.

"Yeah, that's me, mind telling us who you are?"

"Call me Mike, I'm with the KSATTF and we have things that you might want to know."


	10. Chapter 10

The quiet, peaceful atmosphere of the camp was gone as multiple jeeps and trucks drove in. The men, the so called "KSATTF", dressed in black military uniforms accompanied with Houndooms and Mightyenas had turned the place into their command post. The place was now filled with the sounds of loud chatter.

Ash had many questions, but was not given the chance to ask them.

Lieutenant Mike "StoneKeeper" Anderson, the tall, clean shaved haired man who wore a black beret and visors had told the group the situation. It was hard processing all the information that was dumped onto them. An extremist group, Malamar, the Officer Jenny that helped them stop Malamar now turned Captain has been captured.

Mike was standing at a table with the group in front of him, on the table laid a bunch of maps and images of camp.

"So, are you clear with the situation?" Mike asked.

"I have a question." Ash said.

"Shoot."

"How exactly did you find us in the middle of the forest anyway?" Ash asked. "You couldn't have found us by yourselves."

"No, we couldn't." Mike said. "That's why we had help with your friend over there." he pointed at Pancham who was sitting quietly on the grass playing with a stick.

"Pan Pancham?"

"The person who freed you was one of our men, a mole."

"A... mole?" Bonnie wondered.

"It means someone who is pretending to be working for a group but in truth is not." Clemont explained.

"Correct, our mole had placed a tracker on him that lead us directly to you." Mike said, walking over to Pancham.

"And if I'm right, the tracker should be right... here." he said as he removed a small chip that was planted on Pancham's glasses.

"Wow! Science is amazing as always!" Ash said.

"Hmm... This Pancham belong to anyone you know?" Mike asked.

"It belongs to a friend of ours, she also has a Braixen, who's... not doing so well." Ash said. Looking at tent where Braixen was.

"Don't worry, I'll call in a medivac and have the Pokemon transported to the nearest Pokemon Centre in Anistar City." Mike said.

"Thanks."

"So where is this friend of yours? I don't see her anywhere."

"She uh... got separated from us when we trekking those cliffs over there, we haven't seen her since then. I fear she might be missing."

"I'm not so sure about that." Mike said.

"What makes you say that?" Clemont asked.

"If her Pokemon were captured, I fear she might have been captured by the extremist group as well."

"WHAT?!" Ash, Clemont and Bonnie screamed. It made them even more worried knowing Serena might have been captured by a group of dangerous people.

"Guess that gives you more reasons to help us stop them." Mike said. "So, would you all help us?"

"Of course we would!" Ash said. "Our friend is in trouble and we got to save her!"

"Oh count us out!" Jessie objected. "That Malamar has been nothing but trouble."

"Yeah! So if you excuse us, we'll be taking our leave and find Meowth on our own." James said.

"Just where do you think you're going, Team Rocket?" Mike said.

Jessie and James froze when they heard him mention Team Rocket.

"How did you-"

"You didn't think we haven't been observing on your activities ever since you entered Kalos?" Mike said. "You've been causing a lot of trouble during your "stay" here. Causing the Garchomp incident in Lumiose City, breaking into Professor Sycamore's lab, three times, causing a blackout, and the list goes on." "So, if you don't want to be thrown into the slammers for all the crimes you've committed, I suggest you help us." Mike said in an intimidating tone.

The two of them stood there thinking about for a good minute before James finally spoke up.

"Hmph, fine. We'll help."

"Good. Now let's go over the plan of attack." Mike said as Team Rocket walked back to the table to discuss their plan to assault the camp.

Malamar sat quietly on its throne, pondering, nervous, his concerns were about that boy, always getting in the way of the plan. He must be taken care of, or if possible, control him.

A monitor next to him flickered to life, someone was calling, it must be Him.

Malamar pushed a button on the monitor and revealed a man, concealed in the shadows but had notable things. He was tall, had orange hair and was wearing a coat.

"Report." the man said.

"Mala Malamar mala mala mala."

"Plans are proceeding as scheduled, construction is almost complete." Meowth said, translating for Malamar's.

"And the boy?"

"Ma Malamar."

"Still at large, he's still out there."

"Sooner or later he's going to discover this place and compromise the entire operation, if that happens, we cannot leave anything behind, make sure "Alpha Protocol" is followed as instructed." the man said.

"Malamar."

"Yes Master Lysandre."

"Good, I expect construction to be completed by the of the week, out."

The screen faded to black as Malamar got up and went towards the hooded person that was standing at the side of the throne.

"Malamar Malamar."

"I have new orders for you."

"WHAT IS IT THAT YOU WISH MASTER." the person said.

"Mala mala malamar, mala Malamar mala

"Initiate Phase 1 of the "Alpha Protocol", plant bombs on the construction and around the camp, we cannot risk anything to be found if we are compromised."

"AS YOU WISH MASTER."

"Mala, Malamar mala Malamar."

"Also, if that boy comes, you know what to do, Madame Y."

"OF COURSE MASTER." Serena said.


	11. Chapter 11

Lights from screens and monitors flickered in the dark, circular room. At least two dozen men and women working tirelessly typing on keyboards and handing paperwork to another person. In front of the main large screen was a tall, orange haired man who wears a coat.

Lysandre stared at the data that was being displayed on the screen, he stroked his hair to realize it hadn't been combed for days. How long has he been awake, almost 3 days? He knew it was unhealthy for his body but the work that needed to be done for his ultimate goal was massive.

Everything was almost in place, the Ultimate Weapon was almost reconstructed, it was just only a matter of time.

"What's wrong boss? You look like you seen a ghost." Alain, a trainer he had employed. He entrusted him a Mega Ring and a Charizardite X for him to use so he could collect data.

"It's... nothing, I'm fine." Lysandre said.

The black haired trainer stared at him in suspicion but thought nothing of it.

"I found another Mega Stone south of Kalos, I'm heading there now." Alain said.

"I wish you safe travels Alain." Lysandre said.

"Thank you sir."

Alain walked towards the door at the back of the room and exiting, leaving Lysandre alone with his thoughts again.

When will he tell him about his true goals? How would he take it all in? These thoughts came into his head but he quickly dismissed it as he still had an operation to oversee.

Operation ARCADIA, it's goal is to reverse engineer another Ultimate Weapon in the event that the one under Geosenge Town would not work. It would use the Megalith that was acquired back in Hoenn as its energy source.

In theory, it would have the same effects with the weapon that was fired by King AZ 3000 years ago. But to be honest, he had doubts on what might happen.

"Sir! I'm detecting heat signatures approaching the perimeter of Camp Omega! Estimate about two dozen!" a man behind his desk said.

Camp Omega, the codename that was given to the camp that was constructing weapon, these "uninvited guests" we're probably the authorities, they are getting suspicious.

"Alert the camp! Tell them they have intruders coming their way! Tell them to go to Phase 2 of the Alpha Protocol!" Lysandre yelled.

"Yes sir!"

"Let's hope this doesn't all go to hell..." Lysandre said to himself, watching as red alert lights flashed across the monitor.

Mike walked quietly through the bushes with his Manectric following behind. He took a good look at the camp that was below him before making a counterclockwise circle with his finger. The "follow me" signal.

About 10 men appeared behind him with their Pokemons as well, behind them were Ash and Clemont.

Mike had ordered Bonnie to stay behind at the camp, for this was a too dangerous operation for a little kid to be in.

Although she objected at first, she eventually understood the dangers and agreed to stay behind.

"Do we have eyes in the sky?" Mike asked Clemont.

"Yes, my invention is operational." the blonde inventor said.

Clemont's "Camera To Be Put On Flying Pokemon For Aerial Reconnaissance" was strapped onto a Staraptor that belong to one of the soldiers. That needed to know what they were dealing with before attacking the camp.

Clemont turned on a computer that he was holding and the monitor flickered to life with a live feed from the Staraptor.

"The camp you looks packed, zoom in on the place." Mike said.

"Zooming in."

The camera zoomed in closer in the camp, they saw a bunch of people, running around the camp, as if they were in a hurry.

"Why are they all in a hurry?" Ash asked.

"You think they are expecting us?" Clemont asked.

"Unlikely." Mike said. "We're not sloppy when it come to-"

"INCOMING ATTACK!"

The three of them looked up in the sky and they saw a barrage of Hyper Beams heading straight for them. Mike pushed Clemont out of the way but couldn't push Ash out as well, leaving Ash in the middle of it. Ash closed his eyes and braced for impact, it wasn't going to be pretty he thought to himself.


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

Ash slowly opened his eyes as he heard a man shouting from somewhere. His head hurt, like Pikachu had just used Iron Tail on his head, his ears were ringing and his vision blurry. He felt a hand grabbing his collar and was being dragged away, his vision started clearing up and he saw what was going on. They were being attacked, dozens of Pokemon were attacking as the KSATTF were holding them back with their Mightyenas and Houndooms.

"Ash...! Ash...! Can you hear me...?" A muffled voice said, it was Mike's, his Manectric by his side.

He started returning back into reality and regain full control of his body and got off from the ground.

"You're lucky to still be alive kid!"

"Well... it's not the first time that I died." Ash whispered to himself. "Where's Clemont?"

"He's out front covering, I gotta say he's as good as they say being Lumiose's Gym Leader."

Ash turned his head and saw Pikachu next to him, who was glad his trainer was alright.

"You alright Pikachu?"

"Pika Pika Chu" Pikachu said.

"That's a relief." Ash said.

"Team 2! Come in Team 2! What is your status!" Mike yelled though his earpiece.

Team 2, which comprised of Jessie, James and other KSATTF members were to attack from the other side of the camp.

"This is Team 2! It's a mess down here sir!" A man over the radio said. "We got wounded and we're being overrun!"

"Damn! Retreat Team 2! I repeat, retreat!" Mike yelled.

"Hey! What are you two doing!? Get back here! You're going get yourselves killed!"

"Don't tell me how to live me life!" a voice from a distance said, it was James.

"That's Team Rocket!" Ash said.

"What are those two doing?! Are they mad?!" Mike said.

"Whatever they're doing, won't help us here." Ash said. "We still got to push forward."

"You're right, we still got a mission."

Ash noticed a small cliff on the left of where he was that overlooks the people that were attacking them, an opportunity.

Ash reached for the 4 Pokeballs that he had and threw them all out.

"Everyone, come out!" he yelled as the Pokeballs opened and 4 Pokemon appeared: Fletchinder, Frogadier, Hawlucha and Noibat.

"Frogadier! You're following me! Everyone else, hold the Pokemon off!"

Everyone cried in unison, they were ready to fight for their trainer.

"What do you think you're doing kid?" Mike asked.

"Evening the odds." Ash said as he dashed away from Mike and into the forest, until he could no longer see him.

Whatever that kid was planning, Mike hoped it would be good. They needed a miracle if they were going to turn the tables on this battle.

"I fear I might have to use it..." he said as he touched the side of his visor, which something round that looked like a marble.

A Key Stone.


	13. Chapter 13

Jenny woke up with a jolt when she heard the sounds of people yelling and explosions. The calvary were here.

She lifted her head and felt a sudden pain in her neck, guess that's what happens when you sleep on the floor for too long she thought. She peeked out of the small window that was above her cell to see what was going on. She saw a bunch of Pokemon and people running towards a fighting that was happening outside the gates.

"Hope those are backup..." she said to herself.

Jenny then walked away from the window and towards the wall where Serena's cell was next to it. She knocked on the wall to try to get her attention.

"Serena?" Jenny called out. "Serena, are you there?"

There was no reply.

"If you can hear me, call out."

Again, there was silence.

"Hm, something's wrong I gotta get out of this- huh?"

She noticed something laying on the floor next to her cell door, a small parcel.

Jenny noticed a note on top of the parcel, she took it and started reading it.

You need this more than we do.

Take the contents in the parcel and get out of here.

Good luck.

A friend.

Wether it was one of her moles in the extremist group or it really was a "friend". Jenny hoped she could meet the person and shake his or her hand personally for giving her an opportunity to escape.

She opened the parcel and inside were a key and a Pokeball, her Manectric. She grabbed the Pokeball and holstered it on her belt. She then grabbed the key and immediately figured out what it was for. She inserted it into the cell door's keyhole and turned it, a "click" sound was made and the door was opened.

"Guess that's my escape." she said.

Jenny then walked towards the cell next to her to see if Serena is still there. She peeked into the cell and was surprised to find it empty.

"Damn, hope she's alright."

Jenny then decided to exit from the cave and head outside. The noise outside sounded more rowdy and chaotic than before. She took a look at the surrounding area to see if there was a way out.

"Too many for me to sneak past." She said. "I need some kind of distraction."

Just then, by sheer coincidence a loud explosion was heard. She quickly looked around to see where the explosion came from and noticed that the front gates of the camp were blasted open.

"Huh, guess it's my lucky day." Jenny said as she started running towards the towards the gates in the midst of the confusion of the explosion.

Ash ran as quick as he can along with Frogadier who was running from tree to tree like the ninja he was while Pikachu was following Ash. They reached the top of the cliff and saw the battle that was raging on below, at this rate it was a losing fight and Ash needed to react, and fast.

"Hope this plan works..." Ash said to himself. "Pikachu! Frogadier! I'm going to need your complete focus of we're going to pull this off, understand?"

"Froga!"

"Pika!"

"Alright, Pikachu, I'm going to need you to use Electro Ball aimed straight towards the bad guys. And Frogadier, as soon as Pikachu launches it, you use your Frubbles and stick it on the Electro Ball. If all goes well it should make one big sticky bomb."

Frogadier and Pikachu nodded at their trainer and prepared their attacks, waiting for Ash to give the signal to commence.

"Alright, on 3." Ash held up three fingers and started counting down.

"3, 2, 1, GO!"

Pikachu jumped up into the air and started charging up Electro Ball, and threw it. As soon as it launched Frogadier reached for its Frubbles and threw it at the Electro Ball, enough to cover the entire thing, turning it into a Sticky Electro Ball.

"Alright! That's how it's done!" Ash said in excitement.

The Sticky Electro Ball flew towards the extremist members and their Pokemon at high speed and hit them. Instead of causing harm, it had spread the Frubbles all across the field and incapacitate them.

When Mike saw the event transpired, he couldn't believe what had just happened. He immediately realized that Ash was the one had launch that attack.

"Clever kid." He said as he smiled, he did even the odds. "Alright men! Now's our chance! Push them back!"

"HOORAH!" Everyone screamed.

Clemont was still on the field with his Luxray as well as Ash's other Pokemon.

"What clever idea..." Clemont said. Examining the Sticky Electro Ball that had just hit the enemy. "Ash is always full of surprises."

As the KSATTF started approaching the camp gates, they approached the extremist members who were hit with Frubbles and started pinning them down, making sure they won't be able to attack back.

Ash returned back from the hill and approached Mike and Clemont.

"That's was a damn good tactic you had Ash." Mike complimented.

"Yeah, I never knew you could stick things on an Electro Ball." Clemont said, once again in awe at Ash's ability to think of strategy in a middle of a battle.

"Oh you guys give me way to much credit!" Ash said as he scratched his cheeks nervously.

"Team 2 has retreated from the area but there were no sign of our criminal friends. So we're on our own, once we're through the gates and we'll be inside the-"

Suddenly a flash of light erupted and an explosion was heard, destroying the gates and blasting everyone from the gates.

"What the hell was that?!" Mike yelled as he got back up on his feet.

"Sir! Someone coming out from the gates!" A person yelled.

Ash, Clemont and Mike looked at the gates and saw something emerging from what's left of the gates. A hooded figure with the hood covering the face. The same hooded that Ash and Clemont saw in the video.

"Is... is that him?!" Ash asked, suddenly feeling all the hairs in his body standing up straight.

The hooded figure lifted its hands and light started emerging from it. It pointed at a KSATTF member who was still dazed from the explosion. The man was lifted into the air and thrown towards Ash.

"Frogadier! Frubbles, now!" He screamed.

Frogadier quickly pulled Frubbles from its neck scarf and threw it towards the KSATTF member flying towards him. The Frubbles enlarge and created a large cushion for the man to safely land without being hurt.

Mike sign in relief that his squad mate was not harm, there had been enough casualties today.

"NO ONE INTERFERES WITH THE PLAN." The hooded figure said as it charged up an energy ball from its hands and threw it at the group.

"Pikachu! Iron Tail! Send that thing right back at him!" Ash ordered.

Pikachu complied and jumped into the air to use Iron Tail. He swung his tail as hard as he could at the energy ball as it approached and send it flying right back at the hooded figure, hitting it.

"Way to go Pikachu!"

The hooded figure fell to the ground from the energy ball, destroying the cloak which it wore. The removal of the cloak revealed at short honey-blonde hairstyle. The person got up, eyes glowing bright red.

Ash and Clemont couldn't believe what they were hearts dropping. The brown boots, the red vest, and a blue ribbon, there was no mistaking it.

"Se... Se... Serena!?"


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

Private Samuel Miles had always wanted to serve his region, that's what his father would always tell him. Coming from a military background, it wasn't a surprise that would decide to join to follow in his parents footsteps. So at the age of 18 he signed up, graduated two years later and was assigned to the 47th Kalos Ranger Regiment, the Army's elite special forces. A few months ago, Inspector General Simon Burdford of the Kalos Police Department met him, he offered him a position in a police special force that only recently had been formed, Samuel gladly accepted the offer.

So here he was now, working in the KSATTF office branch in the KPD main headquarters in Lumiose City as a Quartermaster. Although work can be a little dull, he didn't regret joining the KSATTF. The main reason being he gets to see his family more often, he never had the opportunity to come back home often because of how far he was deployed to. Now he could visit his wife and two sons in Aquacorde Town when he goes on shore leave.

Samuel sat in front of his desk looking at his computer screen as he went through a manifest list of supplies that he needed. He was then he was interrupted by a messaged that appeared on his screen.

[SUPPLY DROP REQUESTED BY STONEKEEPER]

ITEM REQUESTED : MS11890

It wasn't an uncommon thing for this to happen, soldiers on the field request for supply drops all the time, wether it be medical supplies or Pokeballs. But the item that "Stonekeeper" had requested was what caught his eye.

MS, codename for Mega Stones are only given to high ranking officials within the KSATTF, from Lieutenants to Colonels.

Samuel searched for the requested item in the storage database and found it. After that he sends out an order for it to be packaged and loaded on the next transport chopper. For some reason, Samuel can't shake of an uneasy feeling he had inside him. Why would someone need a supply drop for a Mega Stone? Were they in danger? Samuel shook the thought from his mind as he reached for the radio that was on his desk to contact the the transport chopper.

"Quartermaster to Bravo 6-2, supply drop requested, sending you the location of the drop zone, out."

"Was it really such a good idea to run off from the rest?" James asked.

"We won't be able to find Meowth at this rate unless we do it ourselves!" Jessie shot back.

They were both inside the camp searching high and low for Meowth, but to no avail. They had managed to enter the camp by cutting a hole in the wall. It wasn't an easy task searching the camp as well as avoid being spotted. Suddenly, Jessie noticed a large object that was not far from where she was. Judging from the multiple scaffoldings that were near the thing, it was most likely something being constructed.

"Hello, what do we have here?" Jessie said.

"What do we have what?" James asked.

"Look over there, that big thing in the middle of the camp. I'm going to go take a look at it."

"Jessie, what are you doing?! You're going to stick out like a fly if you go there!" James protested.

"Oh don't be such a loser James, I'm just going to take a quick little-"

Suddenly an explosion was heard so loud that it almost made Jessie and James deaf. The Team Rocket duo ran to see to where the explosion came from. The explosion came from the front gates of the camp, and most probably the one who caused it. A person floating almost five meters high and donned a cloak.

"-look..." Jessie said in hesitantly.

"Se...Serena?!" Ash said in shock at the reveal of the cloak person. On one hand he was glad to see Serena again, but not like this, never like this.

Serena got back up on her feet, her eyes still glowing bright red, her face filled with rage.

"YOU WILL PAY FOR YOUR RESISTANCE!" She yelled.

Serena launched another energy ball and start hurling it at Ash who was still standing in shock at seeing Serena that he didn't notice the energy ball heading towards him. Mike then sprang to his feet and dragged Ash out of the way and into cover before the projectile hit the ground where Ash was.

"What the hell were you doing?! You were a big target left out there in the open!" Mike yelled.

"That's... That's our missing friend..." Ash said, still not warning to believe his eyes.

"What?! Has she...?!

"No... She would never join such a villainous group voluntary. She's got to be mind controlled or something!"

"And what makes you so sure about that?" Mike asked.

"When I saw her eyes, I didn't see any kind of rage in her. What I saw sadness, despair, fear. She doesn't want to do this, she can't been doing this on her own accord!"

"Sadness or not if we don't stop her from decimating us, this operation will fail!"

"I know! I know! There has to be a way to stop her from being mind controlled without harming her!" Ash said.

"There's no way we're going to get past her! We got no choice but to use force to take her down!"

"No!" Ash protested.

"I'm sorry Ash, but this is the only way."

Ash was at a crossroad at who to save. The fate of almost billions in Kalos, or the fate of Serena? Suddenly, Ash had an idea. A stupid one, but it just might work.

"Wait! I know another way!"

"Then by all means, tell me about it!" Mike said.

"Tell your men to hold fire, I'll handle this." Ash said.

"Wait, wha... Ash! What are you doing?!" Mike yelled as Ash left the cover.

Clemont, who was further back from where Ash was and saw him running towards Serena. He thinks he knows what Ash is trying to do, but the only he could do now is see what happens.

"Ash! Do you have a death wish?! Get back-"

"Let him go, he knows what he's doing." Clemont interrupted. "Ash is probably the only one who can save Serena now."

Mike hesitated at the thought of letting him walk right into the enemies hands, but eventually accepted it, Ash was a smart kid, he knew what he won't do it unless he knows what he's doing.

Ash ran out into the open field and saw Serena, still standing there menacingly.

"FOOL! YOU DARE RISE AGAINST ME?!" Serena said.

"Serena! You don't have to do this!"

Ash pleaded.

Serena didn't reply but instead launched a burst of energy from her hand and landed near Ash which hurled him backwards. Ash got up and tried reasoning with her again.

"Serena! It's me Ash! You got to listen to me!"

Serena this time send out a surge electricity and hit Ash with it, causing him to fall to the ground.

"Ash!" Mike and Clemont both yelled.

"I'm fine!" He said as he got up despite still being hit by the electricity and started marching towards Serena.

"WHAT?! IMPOSSIBLE!" Serena said as she increased the power of her electricity.

Ash yelled in pain as he felt every muscle in his body be electrocuted, Pikachu's Thunderbolt was nothing compared to this.

"Se... Serena... I know deep down you can... still hear me..." Ash said, slowly approaching Serena with every last strength he had. He was so close to Serena now, who was still surprised that Ash was still standing.

"Don't give up till it's over!" Ash yelled.

He grabbed Serena by the shoulders and pulled her into a hug. The electricity stopped but Serena was struggling to break free from Ash.

It was then everything went back to her, her journey, her Pokemon, her friends, and Ash. She remembered the past she shared with him, the adventures that she had with him, the courage he gave her.

Serena resisted the part of her mind that was indoctrinated by Malamar, all her courage from Ash had gave her the strength to completely resist the indoctrination, thus finally breaking free.

Serena came to her senses as the red glow from her eyes faded as she felt a pair of arms wrap around her and the first thing she saw was Ash, almost completely charred.

"Ash! What happened to you?! Are you alright?!" Serena asked

"I'm... I'm just glad you're alright..." Ash said.


	15. Chapter 15

"Is...is Ash going to be alright?" Serena asked, clasping her hands together.

"His vitals are normal." Corporal First Class Simon Mendez, the medic of Team 1 said in an annoyed tone as he tried to focus on his job. "Although that electric shock has rendered him unconscious."

"Oh no! Ash..." She said.

Ash, who was laying on a stretcher and was wrapped in multiple layers of bandages, with Pikachu by his side, concerned about its trainer. After saving Serena, he had collapsed onto the ground which left Serena in a shock. Like Mendez said, he fell unconscious soon after due to his severe injuries.

"How...? How could I have done such a thing to him?!" She said, almost on the verge of tears.

"It wasn't your fault Serena." Clemont said, placing a hand on her shoulder to comfort her. "You were controlled, indoctrinated. You weren't acting on your own accord."

"But I hurt Ash! How could I possibly forgive myself for-"

"You didn't hurt him." Mike joined in. "You weren't acting under your own will. Ash is your friend right? So you wouldn't have hurt him on purpose."

"Ash is more than that! He's someone very close to me..." Serena said, realizing what she just said she covered her mouth in shock.

"So I was on the right track..." Clemont whispered to himself.

Mike said nothing, he knew what she meant, but as a soldier he should keep the chit-chat for later and focus on the mission. The camp had been captured, the extremist members have been arrested. But for some reason, something didn't felt right, like he was missing a piece of the bigger picture. An object, almost fifty meters tall, was being constructed at this camp. Interrogating the extremist members led to nothing, but documents found revealed something, Project ARCADIA. They didn't know what it meant but Mike was sure that was the name of the project for the giant object being constructed.

"Sir, extraction chopper has arrived." Private Matthew Laskey said.

"Good, load Ash onto the chopper."

The chopper landed at the gates of the camp. The co-pilot opened the helicopter doors.

"Pancham?!" Serena said in surprise.

The panda Pokemon jumped of the helicopter, happy to see its trainer again.

"I'm so glad to see you again!"

"That Pokemon hitched a ride when we landed back at the CP." The pilot, code name "Möbius" said.

"Wait, where's Braixen?"

Clemont hesitated, he couldn't bring himself to tell Serena the state that Braixen was in.

"Braixen's... not in good condition." Clemont said. "She was taken to a nearby Pokemon Centre."

"What?! What happened to Braixen?! Is she alright?!"

"She'll be alright." Clemont lied.

Ash was carried on a stretcher and loaded onto the chopper. Pikachu tagged along as well.

"Drop them at the nearest Pokemon Centre." Mike ordered.

"Yes sir, before that, do you know anyone under the codename "Stonekeeper"? " The co-pilot, codename, Razgriz said.

"That would be me." Mike said.

"Your "package" has arrived."

"Ah, good. Hand it over to me." Mike said.

Razgriz handed Mike a round object, that looked like a strap, attached to it was a round stone that shined bright yellow.

"Thank you." Mike said.

"Glad to help." Razgriz said. He turned around and made a twirling signal to Möbius, signaling him to take off. Möbius nodded and started lifting the helicopter off the ground as Razgriz shut the door. The helicopter lingered for a brief moment before flying off.

"Wait..." Clemont said. "Is... is that a-?!"

"It is what you think it is. A Mega Stone, specifically the Manectricite."

"Wow, so Manectric can Mega Evolve?" Serena said, completely forgetting everything that had happened.

"Yes well, I haven't really gotten the chance to use it that much, only in really serious situations do I use it." Mike explained as he strapped the Manectricite around his Manectric's neck.

"So... The Pokemon on your emblem is actually a Mega Manectric?" Clemont asked.

"You noticed? Yeah, the KSATTF emblem is that of a Mega Manectric."

"Wow, that's pretty cool." Serena said.

Suddenly, Mike's earpiece crackled.

"Sir! We got two stragglers! Caught them trying to escape the area!"

"Copy that, bring them here." Mike replied.

About 5 minutes later, two KSATTF members appeared with two rather familiar people.

"Team Rocket?!" Serena said in surprise. "What are they doing here?!"

"You two." Mike said coldly. "Tried to jeopardize the mission eh?"

"We only want to find Meowth back! We don't care what happens to you numbskulls!" Jessie replied back.

"Us "Numbskulls" could put you behind bars for multiple charges unless YOU cooperate." Mike said.

The words of the Lieutenant shut Jessie up from responding back, clearly not wanting to add more oil to the fire. James as well was praying she didn't made the situation any worse for them.

Finally, James replied.

"Fine, we'll cooperate."

"Good, release them."

The two people that were holding up Jessie and James released the two, before leaving raising a salute to the Lieutenant before returning to their duties.

Just then a soldier came running towards Mike, his eyes told a sense of urgency.

"Permission to speak sir?" The soldier said, saluting with one hand.

"Permission granted." Mike said, returning the salute. "What is it?"

"We... We found her, we found the Captain."

"What...?! Where is she now?!"

"Right here."

The voice came from behind the solider, everyone turned to see who it was, Clemont was the first to respond.

"Officer Jenny?!" The blonde inventor said in surprise.

"That's Captain Jenny now." Jenny said, who was clad with a combat vest, cargo pants, and black combat boots. Everyone was in shock at her appearance and stared at her in silence. All she had to say was:

"Kept you waiting huh?"


	16. Chapter 16

Jenny had explained everything to Clemont about what had happened. About the aftermath of the Hope Tower Incident, the forming of the KSATTF and how she was the commander of the task force. Clemont had just stand there, quietly taking in all the things that were being told to him

" I see, so the events that took place on Christmas Day caused the KSATTF to be formed?" Clemont said, stroking his chin in thought.

"Correct, as long a threat exists in this region, so will we."

"Are all the members from Kalos?" Clemont asked

"Not exactly." Mike said. "The best of the best from Kanto, Johto, Hoenn, Sinnoh and Unova are all given an opportunity to join. Some of our members even came from the International Police."

"Wow, the KSATTF is a really well manned task force." Serena said

"And not a good sign for us..." Jessie grumbled from a distance

"Hm? You said something Jessie?" James asked.

"No... I didn't say anything." Jessie lied.

"Anyway, that's how it all went down, and now we're here." Jenny said. "Before I was captured, I was investigating suspicious activity that was occurring around the area, trucks driving off track into the middle of nowhere. I tailed the trucks and it led me here.

"Excuse me for interrupting." Clemont said. "Mike, did your find out who was leading this extremist group?"

"That's a negative on that." Mike said. "We've searched the entire camp and we couldn't find a single trace of the-"

Suddenly, an loud explosion erupted from within the camp, the shockwave caused by the explosion pushed everyone onto the ground.

"What the hell was that?!" Mike shouted.

"It was an explosion." Clemont said. "But where could it have possibly come from?"

"Are we under attack?! Again?!" Jessie yelled.

Jenny got up on her feet and tapped on her earpiece that she was just given.

"I want a damage a report now!" Jenny broadcasted on the team's TAC radio frequency.

"All personals reported green ma'am!" The soldier on the other end, Private Michael Monroe, said.

"But... We got a problem!"

"Well spit it out soldier what is it?!"

"The... the giant object being constructed! It's on fire!"

"What?!"

Jenny ran towards the centre of the camp, while the others followed behind her. When they reached the giant unknown construction, it was engulfed in a blaze of fire, the KSATTF members using their water-type Pokemon to prevent it from spreading.

"What happened here?!" Mike asked the Private.

"Sir! We think the source of the explosion came from the object!" Private Michael said.

"An attack?"

"Negative, we didn't see any projectiles, we believe it might have been bombs planted on the construction site."

"Bombs...!?" Serena said in curiosity.

"They must have had a contingency plan to get rid of any traces of what they were doing!" Jenny said.

Mike cursed. How did he not noticed any bombs when he made a quick inspection of the construction not so very long ago. When he finally got back to his senses, he turned to face everyone.

"Alright everyone! We're going to need all the help we can get! People and Pokemon alike! Do anything it takes to quell the fire! You joined the KSATTF because you are the protectors of Kalos! Now is time to prove that loyalty, who's with me?!"

"Hoorah!" The KSATTF members shouted.

"Yes sir." Clemont and Serena both said with hint of respect to Mike.

Jessie and James simply shrugged, they weren't doing it out of good will, they both just don't want to be arrested after this whole fiasco has ended.

Jenny couldn't help but smile at this, he couldn't ask for a better second in commend by her side.

From a distance, not far from the blazing construction, Malamar was watching, with Meowth floating next to it.

In front of Malamar, was a holographic pad. Which suddenly flickered to a different screen.

INCOMING CALL

CALLER ID: UNKNOWN

Malamar tapped a button and the screen switched to the face of an orange haired man, Lysandre.

"Report." Lysandre said.

"Mala mala, Mala Malamar!"

"Camp Omega compromised, initiating Winter Contingency!" Meowth translated.

"Then see to it, I don't want a single trace of our existence here!" Lysandre said.

"Malamar Mala Mala."

"Yes, Master Lysandre."

"Good, extract from the area once you're finished. A chopper will be sent to pick you up, Lysandre out."

The call ended and the screen faded to black.

Malamar switched the pad off and decided to put its plans into motion, it wasn't going to see months of hard work go to fools know NOTHING about what this weapon could do. Instead of destroying everything, it was only going to destroy one thing.

The pests that were meddling with it.

"It's no use! The fire is to strong!" Serena said. She had ordered Pancham to help by throwing dirt on to the fire to quell the fire.

Clemont, Jessie and James were helping as well. Having Bulnnelby, Chespin, Luxray, Inkay and Gourgiest helping out too.

"We can't lose this object! It's our top priority!" Jenny said.

"But we don't have the manpower to extinguish this inferno!" Clemont said.

Jenny couldn't deny that fact, with only about 10 men, they couldn't exactly do anything about it.

Unless...

"Lieutenant! I need you to Mega Evovle your Manetric!"

"Wha... But Ma'am! You do realize that...!"

"We won't know unless we try."

Everyone else were confused at what they were both saying.

Clemont decided to speak up.

"Um... What makes going on here?"

"6 months ago, Mike and his Manectric were on a mission in Southern Kalos. The situation required him to Mega Evovle. Unfortunately, an explosion nearby interrupted the Mega Evolution process and knocking out both Mike and Menectric. When the doctors attended to him they noticed a strange kind of "aura" radiating from both their bodies. The best conclusion the scientist could make up was that the sudden interruption of Mega Evolution caused a burst of energy to fuse with them, causing a sudden change in their genetic codes. Permanently "linking" with each other."

"Wow...!" Clemont said. The glimmer of interest in his eyes of learning something new about Mega Evolution made Serena chuckle.

"Data from this new discovery showed many interesting results: Spacial awareness increased by 30%, heightened reflex, and Manectric's power had an increased of a whopping 90%." Jenny continued.

"And that's only in its base form, we don't know what'll happen if we tried Mega Evolving." Mike said.

"So that's why we need to do it now, your Manectric's Rain Dance should be able to extinguish this fire!" Jenny said. "As Captain I authorize use of Mega Evolution!"

"Roger that, Ma'am. Manectric!"

"Tric!" It said, standing by in front of him."

"Alright then! Manectric! MEGA EVOLVE!" Mike said.

He touched the Mega Stone on his visor and a glow of light emitted. Not long after, the Mega "links" from both the Manectricite and Key Stone fused together, creating a massive burst of light. Manectric hound as it started to physically change, massive spikes grew, it's legs morphing.

And then it the burst of light dispersed from Manectric, revealing a whole different looking Pokemon. Much slicker in design and intimidating.

Serena, Clemont, Jessie and James were awestruck by its appearance.

If only Ash was here to see it, Serena thought.

"Now, Manectric! Use Rain Dance!" Mike ordered.

"MA NEC TRIC!" It shouted into the sky above. Not long after, dark clouds started forming in the sky. Blanketing the entire camp in darkness.

A few drops of rain started and now long after it started pouring, but it wasn't a heavy rain, it was more like a hurricane was about to hit the entire camp. Wind started picking up and everyone braced themselves.

The downpour fell onto the flaming object. Steam released from the water due to the intense heat. Slowly but surely the fire subsided, and eventually extinguishing the entire inferno.

The skies started clearing as Manectric changed back to its original form.

"Good work Manectric!" Mike said, patting the electric-type.

"That was amazing!" Serena said. Completely blown away at how much power this Pokemon was wielding.

"I've never seen a Rain Dance so powerful before!" Clemont added.

Team Rocket, who had hid under a small hut came out when they saw the rain had cleared.

"Don't ever do that again!" Jessie yelled. "This hair is too perfect to be ruined by mere rain!"

"Oh Jessie..." James said in embarrassment.

"Good work Mike." Jenny said. "I'm sure the boys back at HQ will be happy to hear the results of this "experiment". "

"Yeah I'm sure they'll be pleased to hear- wait... what's that sound?"

"I hear it too." Serena said.

"It sounds like... clapping?" Clemont said.

The clapping grew closer and closer, but it didn't grew and louder, as if the person who was clapping was really small.

"Quite the show you put up."

"That voice...!" Jessie stated.

"Could it be...?!" James said.

A figure walked out of a corner, it was none other than Meowth, his eyes closed and a grin on his face

.

"Meowth!" Serena and Team Rocket both said simultaneously.

"I have to say, I'm impressed at how much power that Pokemon has, I think it'll fit great in our cause."

"Cause?" James asked in confusion. "What are you...?!"

Suddenly a figure appeared out of thin air, a figure that send chills down everyone's spine.

"What the...?!" Jenny said.

"Optical Camouflage?!" Mike said.

"No...! That can't be...!" Clemont said.

"The leader of the entire thing." Serena said.

"SHOW'S OVER!" Malamar said. "PREPARE TO FEEL MY WRATH!"


	17. Chapter 17

"Malamar?! You... bastard!" Jenny cursed in anger. It was none other than the psychotic evil Pokemon himself.

"Mala Mala Mala Mar!"

"Madame X! How nice of you to show up!"

"Don't you DARE call me that!" Jenny replied. Her Pokeball containing Manectric at the ready.

"Ma Mala Malamar Mala Mala Mar."

"And Madame Y, how... unfortunate that you decided not to join the cause."

Serena clenched her fist tightly, now wanting to let out the rage in her. It's what Malamar wants to see in its enemies.

Weakness.

"Malamar Ma Mala Mala Mar."

"Such a shame, you would have fit perfectly in our ranks."

"I am NOT a pawn of your games!" Serena shot back. Her face turned red in anger. Pancham fired a Dark Pulse towards Malamar in retaliation, but was deflected when it reached it.

Malamar let out a laugh at the panda Pokemon's attempt at attacking.

"Ma Ma! Mala Malamar Ma!"

"Electromagnetic shield my friend! You won't be hitting me with your attacks anytime soon!"

Serena clenched her teeth. She wanted revenge for hurting Ash. But she couldn't do anything about it.

"Meowth! What are you doing?! You're on our side!" James yelled. His Inkay also filled with anger, vowing revenge for using Team Rocket when they first crossed paths.

"Ma Mala Ma Malamar."

"I'm afraid he works for me now."

Meowth then took out a switch and raised it so everyone could get a good look at it.

"Ma Ma Malamar Mar, Ma Ma Malamar Mala Mala Ma!"

"If you wish to survive you best better start running, this camp is rigged with bombs filled with Napalm!"

Everyone froze.

"Na... Na... Napalm?!" Mike said.

"Mala Mala Mar Ma Ma Mala Malamar!"

"You got 10 minutes before everything within a 4 kilometer radius is reduced to ashes!"

At the side of the detonator displayed the numbers 10:00 on the timer.

Jenny cursed. She was so close! But Malamar has drove them into a corner. Jenny had to make a difficult decision, evacuate everyone out of the area. But everything, along with the truth, burns to the ground with it. The other option was to try disarming all the bombs that were in the camp but would be putting all her men at risk.

"Malamar! Mala Mala Mala Mar!"

"You'd best hurry up! Clocks starts now!"

"No!"

It was at that moment Serena sprang forward, the whole world slowing down around her. She could hear her heart beat faster and faster. She didn't know what she was thinking, but there was no turning back now.

Serena kept forward and slammed Meowth onto the ground, throwing the detonator from his hand. The detonator slammed onto the ground trigger down, a beeping noise emitted and the timer started counting down.

"Dammit! What were you thinking?!" Mike yelled.

Serena mentally kicked herself, she didn't know why she suddenly became reckless in that split second of a moment. Maybe Ash's personality was rubbing off her? No matter, if she can't stop the bombs, she can at least save Meowth.

"GET OFF ME!" Meowth yelled, struggling out of Serena's grip.

"Listen to me Meowth! You got to break free of Malamar's control!" Serena pleaded.

"There is no more Meowth. Only a follower to a new future!"

Meowth raised his arms, Fury Swipes readied and lunged it at Serena.

"Serena!" Clemont yelled. Fearing the worst was about to happen.

Serena grabbed Meowth hand, just centimeters away from her face.

"I don't think so!"

She turned the feline Pokemon's hand around, the Fury Swipes facing him now. She prayed that this would worked. She started using Meowth's Fury Swipes and slashed his face, each slash harder than the other.

"What are you doing with Meowth?!" Jessie screamed.

"Saving him!" Serena replied.

Malamar, who saw the entire thing simply smiled and floated away from the scene.

"He's getting away!" Mike yelled as he stared chasing after Malamar.

"No." Jenny ordered.

"But-!"

"That's an order Lieutenant!"

"Ye... Yes Ma'am..."

Serena finally stopped slashing, her hand aching. Meowth's face was covered with slash marks. He then opened his eyes, the red glow gone.

"Urgh..." Meowth grunted. "Could you have used a less painful method to wake me- Eh...? Twerpette?!"

It worked! She couldn't believe it actually worked!

"Meowth!" Serena exclaimed. For the first time she's actually glad to see of all people like Meowth to be alright.

"I... I remember now, Malamar, something about a weapon..."

"There's no time! We got a big problem on our hands!"

Serena lifted Meowth to his feet and dusted him off

"Alright everyone! We got to evacuate from the area now! Mike! Order the men to regroup at Rally Point Alpha."

"We're not going anywhere." Serena said.

"What?!" Everyone screamed in surprised.

"Serena! What are you doing?! The bombs are about to explode!" Clemont said.

"We've got some loose ends to tie up." Meowth replied, the calmness of his face hiding the rage that was within. Serena too, felt that way as well.

"This isn't the time for vengeance! You'll die if you stay here!"

"Both of us had been pawns in this grand scheme... Malamar had used me to..." She couldn't bring herself to say it, the horrible thing she had done to Ash.

"We end this now." Meowth said.

"But-!"

"You got to leave, get as far away from here as possible." Serena ordered. "And Clemont?"

"Yes Serena?"

"If... if I don't make it out of this... Tell... Tell Ash that I love him!"

Clemont was taken by surprise, her true feelings have finally come out.

"Un...understood Serena..."

Jessie and James approached Meowth, along with Inkay and Gourgeist.

"You'll make it out of this right Meowth?" James asked worriedly.

"Please, I've been into plenty of rodeos, I'm sure I can handle this."

"Well... Just make it make it back in one piece alright Meowth?"

"I will." Meowth said, with a grin on his face.

Serena picked up the detonator to check the remaining time, 7:48. Alright, they needed to be quick.

"Everyone move! GO GO GO!"

The group nodded and ran in the opposite towards the gate.

Pancham stayed behind, not wanting to abandon its trainer.

"Thanks for staying behind Pancham." Serena said.

"Cham!" Pancham said, pumping his fists on his chest.

"Alright let's go!" Meowth said.

Pancham hopped onto Serena's shoulders and they both started sprinting as quickly as they could. There was only one place that Malamar could have gone to.

The tent at the top of the hill.

* * *

"What's the status on Camp Omega!" Lysandre demanded.

"Napalm bombs have been activated, T minus 7 minutes."

" Damnit!" Lysandre slammed on his desk.

Lysandre could not allow Project ARCADIA to be discovered. He fear its discovery could potentially trace it back to him. Jeopardizing his life long goal.

"Is the extraction chopper prepped?" Lysandre asked.

"Zulu 6-1 is in the air, ETA 4 minutes."

Once the bombs explode, they will nothing but dust and rubble, and it'll look like nothing more than an extreme forest fire from afar.

That's how Lysandre hoped it would happen.

* * *

"There it is!" Serena said.

In front of them was the tent oversaw everything, and where this would all end.

"You ready?" Meowth asked.

"Let's do this." Serena replied. She knew this was the point of no return.

Ash... Please watch over me...

"On 3! 1, 2,-"

Suddenly a flash of light blinded the both of them and the two were pushed back an overwhelming force. An explosion.

Serena coughed as head started spinning and her ears still ringing. From the fires of the explosion appeared a figure looming over the stunned Serena and Meowth.

Malamar.

The duo got back up on their feet, still dazed from the sudden explosion.

"Mala Malamar Mala?!"

"You two just won't quit won't you?!" Meowth translated.

"We have a score to settle Malamar!" Serena yelled, beaming with rage.

"Malamar Mala, Malamar Mala!"

"If it's a fight you want, it's a fight you'll get!"

Malamar then launched an Psybeam at them. Causing them to jump out of the way.

"Pancham! Dark Pulse!"

Pancham jumped off Serena shoulders and dived straight into the battle. Launching a ray of dark energy at Malamar. But was deflected.

"No use! We won't be able to touch him with that electromagnetic shield around him!" Meowth said.

"What do we do if we can't hit it?!" Serena said.

She took out the detonator from her pocket, 4:50. They were running out of time!

Suddenly, Meowth had an idea.

"I got it!" He exclaimed.

"What is it?"

"There's got to be something that Malamar is wearing that is providing him the shield!"

"What are you suggesting?"

"If I could get in close enough, I can find the device and remove it."

"I think I know just the way." Serena said.

Malamar then used Psychic on Pancham, lifting the panda Pokemon into the air and send it flying, landed near Serena.

"Are you alright Pancham?"

"Cham!" Pancham said. Shrugging off the fall damage it had suffered.

"Alright Pancham! Use Stone Edge!"

Pancham then slammed it's hands onto ground, creating pillars of blue stone from the ground.

"Go, now!"

Meowth sprang from his cover and jumped onto the stone pillar, keeping his balance as he jumped stone pillars after stone pillars, eventually reaching Malamar, he leapt onto Malamar and held onto the top of the Pokemon.

"Mala?! Mala Mala Malamar?!"

Meowth noticed a small square chip the size of his paws attached to the back of Malamar.

"Sorry! But I'll be taking this!"

He snatched the chip and jumped off of Malamar.

"Now Twerpette!"

"Pancham! Use Karate Chop!"

Pancham's hand started glowing as it started running towards Malamar. Jumping into the air, and diving straight into the evil Pokemon. This was for all the harm it has cost to Braixen!

The attack hit Malamar, causing it to slam straight into the ground.

"Now! Finish it off with a Dark Pulse!"

Pancham, still in the air charged dark energy one more time and launched it. This time hitting its target.

The Dark Pulse exploded into a huge could of smoke, launching rubble into the air as well.

"Did... Did we do it...?" Serena said.

Suddenly, Malamar emerged from the crater, covered in bruises and scratches from the impact.

"Ma Ma Mala, Ma Ma Malamar Mala!"

"I got to hand it you, but you won't be leaving this place alive!" Meowth translated.

It was at that moment roaring sound was heard, it started getting closer and closer. From the corner of their eyes they saw a helicopter flying towards them. It quickly descent near Malamar as the doors opened. The Pokemon flew towards the chopper doors as Serena and Meowth gave chase.

"He's getting away!" Serena yelled.

But it was too late, Malamar was already in, as the helicopter quickly gain altitude. Leaving the two behind.

"We were so close!" Meowth said. "There's nothing we can do... We don't have enough time to escape the area... We're through..."

Serena checked the timer, 2 minutes left on the timer. It was over... They wouldn't be able to escape on time. Pancham knew what was about to happened and comfort it's trainer. Serena thought about Ash one last time, she regretted not telling him how she actually felt. But, just thinking about Ash made her felt... happy...

"Huh? What's that?" Meowth asked. Pointing at something square in shape laying on the floor.

Meowth picked up the object. It revealed to be a tablet of sorts. Most likely dropped by Malamar.

"What's on it?" Serena asked.

Meowth tapped on the screen and the tablet flickered to life. Displayed on the screen were the words: DETONATION SEQUENCE ACTIVATED.

"Yes! I know how to disable the bombs!" Meowth exclaimed.

"What?! How?!" Serena said in shock.

"If I can override the algorithms, I can override the detonation sequence and disable the bombs!"

"Wait, how does a Pokemon like you know how to handle explosives?" She asked.

"Evil organisation remember? Now be quiet so I can focus."

Meowth then began inputting commands on the tablets keyboard.

Serena checked the timer again. 1:00. Her spine chilled when she saw it. They weren't going to make it!

"Come on Meowth! We only have one minute left!" Serena yelled. Her face dripping with sweat.

"I'm working on it!" He replied.

Everything went silent around Serena. She could only hear the sound of the timer counting down, and the sound of her own heartbeat.

45 seconds left.

This was it... She couldn't deny the fact, she was going to die... At such a young age for her, there were so many things that she wanted to do. Become Kalos Queen, see the world. That kind of stuff.

35 seconds left.

Her mind then thought about her mom. Being told that her daughter had died in an explosion. Not even a body left to bury...

Her friends as well, Shauna, Tierno, Trevor. Clemont, Bonnie...

Ash...

20 seconds left.

Maybe she had failed Ash after all... She always remembered what Ash had said to her when they first met. "Don't give up till it's over!"

But here she was, on the brink of death, with all hope lost for her...

Perhaps Ash wasn't really the one for me... She thought to herself.

10 seconds left.

She closed her eyes gently. Accepting her fate, she didn't care anymore. She had failed the person she had loved. Finally giving up.

Pancham hugged Serena tightly.

5

Perhaps the afterlife wouldn't be so bad, she always wondered was there a life after death?

4

Maybe she'll even come back as a Pokemon, like a Yamask. Old folklore always say that Yamask are actually the spirits of humans who once lived.

3

Serena closed her eyes even tighter now. Not wanting greet death in the face.

2

Here it comes...

1

Serena opened her eyes again, she was still where she stood before. She saw Meowth facing her, holding the tablet in his hands.

"Bomb deactivated." Meowth said. Tossing the tablet on the ground in front of Serena. The words DISABLED displayed on the screen.

Serena couldn't believe her eyes... She... She survived...?!

Serena began laughing hysterically, which confused Meowth at first.

I'm alive! I'm alive! She thought to herself.

Meowth began laughing as well, they survived by the skin of their teeth.

The duo both sat at the edge of the cliff, looking on at the camp in front of them. They both just remain quiet for what seemed like forever. Wanting to enjoy every second of it.

Serena then broke the silence.

"You know what Meowth? You're not such a bad person after all." Serena confessed.

"And you aren't such a Twepette after all, Serena." Meowth said, with a smile on his face.

Serena couldn't help but smile at that. It is only now she saw Meowth not as an enemy who would always try to steal Pokemon, but she saw him as... she dared even saying it. A friend.

Perhaps old grudges doesn't really die hard after all.

* * *

Oh boy! That was a really hard one to write! I have two things I want to talk about. First thing is as of writing this chapter, Pokemon The Series XY has entered its second year! And with that also the second anniversary of Amourshipping!

Secondly, I just would like to thank everyone who had read and reviewed this story. Without you guys and your helpful reviews, I wouldn't have been here. Now don't worry, there's still one final chapter before this story finally comes to a conclusion. I'll also announce the next Anpurshipping story that I'll be writing!

With that said, this is Ikcatcher, signing out.


	18. Epilogue

A flash of light entered Ash's eyes, the light blinding him for a few seconds as his eyes took awhile to adjust. He found himself laying in a bed, a heart monitor next to him, beeping with the pace of his heartbeat.

His ears then picked up on something he wasn't expecting. Music. It sounded like it was coming from a nearby radio. It was a person singing, he couldn't pick up what he was saying, all he heard was something about "the man who sold the world".

Ash tried moving his arms to push himself up, it felt stiff. As if he hadn't move for quite a long time. He then remembered what happened, he had saved Serena from whatever that was controlling her, and soon after that he blacked out. He sat up and took a look at his surroundings, there was no one else in the room. Outside his room window was nothing but pitch darkness, indicating that it was night. To the left of his bed was his hat and Pikachu, sleeping soundly next to its trainers hat. Ash was relived to see his partner alright and with him.

Ash then noticed that he was shirtless, and wrapped in bandages. Although he wasn't feeling any pain or discomfort sustained from his injuries, he didn't want to think about it.

Suddenly, he heard a door opened nearby. He turned his head around and saw Nurse Joy, pushing a tray of medical equipment into the room and saw Ash up and awake.

"Oh, you're awake!" Nurse Joy exclaimed.

It was then Ash realise where he was. But just to make sure, Ash decided to ask anyway.

"Where am I...?" Ash asked.

"You're in a Pokemon Centre, you arrived here by helicopter. You were in a pretty bad condition when you were brought in. Thank goodness you're alright!" Nurse Joy said, smiling in relief at the raven haired trainer's wellbeing.

Pikachu heard the commotion that was going on and was awoken. When the electric rodent saw its trainer had woken up as well, it happily leapt onto Ash with happiness.

"Hey there buddy! You missed me?"

"Pika Pi!" Pikachu exclaimed.

"I'm just glad you're alright!" Ash said, gently stroking Pikachu's head.

After that, Nurse Joy did a quick medical check-up on Ash. Testing his blood pressure and changing bandages were one of the many procedures Ash went through.

After everything had checked out, Ash wore back his usual traveling outfit and put his hat back on. He double-checked his bag to make sure everything was still there. Pokedex, his Pokemons Pokeballs, his camping equipment. Everything were still where he had left it.

Ash checked the time using his Pokedex, 2:33 AM. It was pretty late at night right now.

Just then, the door to his room opened. And three people entered, Mike, a tall looking man who wore a peaked cap and had a three star insignia on his shoulder and...

"Wait, aren't you that Officer Jenny that helped us with that incident at Hope Tower?!" Ash remarked.

"That's Cap... Ah forget it..." Jenny said.

Nurse Joy decided to leave them be as she left the room to finally call it a day.

"How are you doing kid?" Mike asked.

"Feeling a little bit better, the wound still hurts though."

"Electrical burns would usually take up to a few days minimum to heal." The man in peaked cap said with a thick accent.

"I'm sorry, but I didn't catch your name." Ash said.

"Oh, my apologies. I'm Général de division Alexander Miller, leader of the KSATTF."

"Leader huh." Ash said.

"You must be Ash Ketchum from Pallet Town correct? We've been keeping an eye on you since that Garchomp incident in Lumiose City."

"I figured as much..." Ash said.

"You've been unconscious for 2 days. A lot of things had been discovered at the camp thanks to your friend, Serena." Jenny said.

"Se... Serena?!" Ash exclaimed.

"Because of her and Meowth from Team Rocket. They were able to save the camp from total annihilation." Mike continued.

Team Rocket, he remembered them disobeying orders to retreat and continued onwards into the camp.

"Where are Team Rocket anyway?" Ash asked.

"They disappeared as soon as we recaptured the camp." Jenny replied.

"In any case, for their efforts in stopping a serious threat in the Kalos region. I hereby clear them of all previous charges." Alaxender said.

"Now with that settled, I think you should go see your friends." Jenny suggested.

"Where are they?" Ash asked.

"At the reception area." Mike answered. "We called them out to discuss about something."

"Best join up with them." Ash said as he walked towards the door. "Aren't you coming as well?" He asked.

"Oh, we'll catch up." Mike said.

Ash nodded and decided to see himself out. As soon as the door closed and they were sure no one was listening, Jenny then turned to face the General.

"We should have told them." Jenny said.

"We didn't need to."

"With all due respect Sir, this is something-!"

"-We shouldn't reveal to the public. If word gets out about a weapon from 3000 years ago. It'll cause widespread panic throughout the region."

"The General is right, this isn't something that should get out to the public." Mike said.

Jenny clenched her first. She knew the General was right, but it felt wrong not informing anyone about this! Their lives could potentially be at stake. Jenny prayed that this was the right thing to do.

* * *

Ash walked down the dim hallway of the Pokemon Centre. The quietness of the long empty hallway made Ash feel relaxed. He hadn't felt this relax for the past few days.

Ash then entered the reception area and saw Serena, Clemont and Bonnie sitting at a nearby couch. Bonnie and Clemont had both fell asleep on each other. With Serena, her hat placed on the table just twiddling her thumbs. When she saw Ash standing there she was shocked.

"A... Ash!" Serena exclaimed.

"In the flesh. Are you o-"

Serena interrupted Ash by embracing him into a hug.

"-kay..." Ash said.

"You got me so worried!" Serena said hugging Ash even tightly.

Ash decided to return the hug. The warmth of her hug made him realize how much he had missed Serena.

"It's alright Serena, I'm here." Ash spoke softly.

Just as they both released their grip on each other, Clemont and Bonnie both woke up. The siblings were just as shocked to see Ash as well.

"Ash! You're finally awake!" Clemont said.

"Are you feeling alright?" Bonnie asked. "You got me so worried!"

"I'm fine guys, well... mostly alright." Ash said.

Just then, Mike, Jenny and Alexander entered the room.

"I see that you're all now reacquainted." The General said.

"So, why are we here?" Ash asked.

"Serena please step forward." Jenny ordered.

"Oh um... Okay then..." Serena said, as she took a few steps forward to face the General who was holding a small box in his hands.

"Serena Yvonne, for your valiant effort and bravery in a top secret military operation. I would like to commemorate the Kalos Legion Of Honour to you, the highest civilian award in Kalos." Alexander said as he opened the box. Inside was a gold medal, engraved on it was the Prism Tower, surrounded by a crest.

Serena was taken back in surprised by this. She couldn't believe her eyes. Was she really getting a medal for serving her region.

"I... Uh... Wha...?!" Was all Serena could let out, still being taken by surprise of this.

"Also, as ordered by the "Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur", you're hereby awarded the title of "Chevalier"."

Serena got even more of a shock when she heard that. She was given an honorary title by the "National Order of the Legion of Honour ".

Jenny then walked up and removed the medal from the box. She then pin the medal on the red vest she was wearing.

"You did Kalos proud." Jenny whispered.

Alexander, Jenny and Mike then turned attention to Serena and saluted her.

Serena, who remained hesitant at first about all this. But she finally accepted it and saluted back at them.

Once they were both done, Ash, Clemont and Bonnie walked up to her with a sense of of proudness on their faces.

"Congratulations Serena!" Ash said.

"Your mother would be proud." Clemont said.

"Chevalier. That's such a cool title!" Bonnie exclaimed.

Serena blushed heavily with a huge shade of red on her face that almost made her looked like a Tomato Berry.

"Serena, there's something that I need to tell you." Ash said nervously.

"What is it As-"

Ash grabbed Serena by the shoulder and pulled her close, their lips intertwining. Ash knew that he had always made reckless moves throughout his journey, but this was a really bold move, even for him. But it didn't matter anymore, the warmth of Serena's lips tells him that it was all worth it.

The kiss lasted for a good few seconds before he released Serena. Her face an even darker shade of red now. Everyone else in the room couldn't help but smile at this rather cute scene between two childhood friends.

"I love you, Serena. Ash exclaimed.

Serena process those words for a good 15 seconds before she replied.

"You're one hell of a kisser, Ash Ketchum."

* * *

Lysandre slammed his desk in anger. He couldn't believe it, those dammed people had captured Project ARCADIA! All the funding and time invested into this project. All for nothing! It was only a matter of time before everything would lead back to him.

What's even worse is that Malamar had gone AWOL and had never returned. The Pokemon, along with the chopper that extracted Malamar, were never seen again.

But it didn't matter, for he had another plan in the works. Something that would bring Kalos down to its knees.

He picked up the phone on his desk and started dialling numbers on it. The phone rang for a few seconds before a person on the other end picked up.

"Z has come to." Was the only thing Lysandre said before hanging up.

He turned on the activated the giant screen opposite of his office and waited. Slowly, the orange coloured background of the Lysandre Labs logo changed into a shade of green.

Radio chatter that was picked up from all over the place kept repeating the same phrase.

"Z has come to."

* * *

A few days had passed since Ash had awoken. His injuries had finally healed. But as a precaution Nurse Joy had advised them to stay for a few more days to do some final medical check-ups. Braixen, who had been injured a few days ago had thankfully made a full recovery. Much to Serena's relief.

Slowly but surely, life went back to normal for everyone.

The next day, they were all ready to continue on their journey again.

"Is everyone good to go?" Ash asked, now fully recovered and back to his usual self.

"Ready!" Bonnie said.

"All set here." Clemont said.

"Serena?" Ash asked.

Serena, who was still sitting on one of the couches was looking at the medal she had received. The KSATTF had left shortly after the "award ceremony". Mike said that their team had been redeployed elsewhere, effective immediately. Mike also said that maybe someday their paths would cross again.

"Hellllo? Earth to Serena?" Bonnie yelled.

Serena jolt back from the sudden yelling and was brought back from her daydreaming.

"Come on "Chevalier"! You wouldn't want me to leave you now would you?" Ash teased.

"Very funny Ash." Serena said to his new boyfriend.

She clasped the medal and placed it in her bag. As she was about to leave, something dropped out from her pocket. Something small.

"Huh?" Serena said, looking down to see what she had dropped. A bottle cap with the words Slateport City Root Beer written on it.

"Is that a bottle cap?" Ash asked. "Where did you get that from?"

"Oh this? I got it from..." She trailed of for a bit. Trying to find the right word to say. She smiled and picked up the bottle cap and placed it in her bag.

"...A friend." She finally replied.

Ash seemed confused at first at why she struggled to reply his question. But he decided to ignore that thought.

"In any case, let's go! A bright new day awaits us!" Ash said as she grabbed Serena's hand and ran for the door.

"Woah, wait slow down!" Serena exclaimed as they passed by Clemont and Bonnie.

"Wait up you lovebirds!" Bonnie said as she started chasing after the couple. Leaving Clemont behind.

"Wa... Wait...! Don't leave me behind!" Clemont yelled. Slowly chasing after the rest of the group as they exited the Pokemon Centre.

Ash didn't know what laid ahead for him and the gang. But everything that happened these past few days had changed him. Made him realise that there was something more to life than just being a Pokemon Master.

With the events of the past finally passed them. It was time for Ash to look ahead to a brand new adventure, along with Clemont, Bonnie...

And Serena.

* * *

And that concludes Old Grudges ladies and gentlemen! WOOOOOOO (Fireworks in the background).

These past few months had been great. Writing these story had to be one of my toughest challenge yet. With now 18 chapters in total, it's finally time for me to move on to a new story.

Speaking about that, I'm happy to announce my new Amourshipping story! The title would be called "Cold, Cold, Heart". Yes, I know it's a title of a song, but it just fits really well for I'm planning. I'll give you the basic rundown of the story. It's going to be a sort of horror/mystery fic that takes place on a snowy mountain.

That's all I have to say now, I would like to again thank each and everyone of you who took the time to read this fanfic 6 months in the making. With that said, this is Ikcatcher, signing out!


End file.
